Moon, Regulus, and Saturn  StarDate: January 22, 2008
audio/mpeg icon  The Moon will swoop past the star Regulus and
the planet Saturn over the next few nights. Tonight, Regulus and
Saturn rise well below the Moon, in mid-evening. But they'll be
much closer to the Moon on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  This
passage is just one of the rhythms of the night sky. The Moon
and planets wheel through the background of stars in predictable
fashion, while the stars themselves rise and set with clockwork
precision.  The Moon, for example, wheels through the stars
every four weeks. Saturn does it every 30 years, with a sort of
stop-and-start motion. Right now, for example, Saturn appears to
be moving westward through the stars -- toward Regulus. It'll
keep up that motion for a few months, then reverse course and
head eastward again. It'll return to its current position in the
sky in about six months.  Saturn actually moves steadily forward
in its orbit all the time, but our perspective on the planet
changes as we orb