Now that we are officially into spring, skywatchers are becoming more aware of the change in the celestial scenery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stepping outside between 10 p.m. and midnight local daylight time, we immediately notice the brilliant luminaries of winter taking their leave in the western sky: Orion is beginning to disappear below the western horizon. Low on the west-northwest horizon, Taurus the Bull is also ready to drop out of sight. If you look low to the west-southwest, you can still glimpse Sirius, the brightest of all the stars. Normally appearing a brilliant blue, its position down in the horizon haze may cause it to scintillate or splinter into different colors of the rainbow.\u00a0<\/p>\n