After several cloudy, rainy, and snowy days, a clear sky returned this evening. This 30-second exposure shows the southeastern sky at 9:10 p.m. CST from the Chicago area. (Click the image to see it larger.)  Bright Jupiter is in front of the stars of Taurus with its bright star Aldebaran.  They are paired high in the sky.  Elnath and Zeta Tauri represent the bull’s horns.  Two star clusters, Pleiades and Hyades, are excellent targets through binoculars.

Orion follows Taurus in the sky with its bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel.  The Orion Nebula, a star forming region, is another excellent target through binoculars.

For our monthly sky watching posting, click here.