COLUMBUS, Ohio — The last quarter moon arrives on Sunday afternoon! It’ll officially reach that phase at 2:43 p.m. but the moon won’t rise until the wee hours of Monday morning so you can catch the half-moon as you start out the workweek.
Speaking of the moon, you can use it to find some of the planets this week. It’ll be near Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus throughout the coming days.
Look in the east to the southeastern sky before sunrise. This is how it’ll look on Tuesday morning.
A globular cluster will be well placed in the night sky late in the week. Messier 4 or M4 is the closest globular cluster to Earth at 5,500 light-years from our home.
Globular clusters are made up of thousands to millions of stars and they sparkle a bit like diamonds.
Because M4 is located so close to Antares, the heart of the scorpion, it’s fairly easy to find.
You’ll need a telescope or binoculars, though. Look in the southeastern sky late in the evening to find it.
Happy hunting!