Wednesday February 3rd

On Wednesday February 3rd I was on my way home from work at 12:30 I noticed how beautiful the sky was as I was leaving. There were stars everywhere glowing brightly for all to see. It took me about 30 minutes to get home, but when I got home I pulled out my star and planet locator and went outside to view the stars. By the time I started viewing it was 1:15am eastern standard time. So I had to look at my star and planet locator at 12:30am in order to find the constellations I wanted to see. I truly was beautiful and there are not really words to describe it. The constellation that stood out right away was the big dipper, which then led me to the north star. I looked at the "pointers" and found the north star beaming brightly in the sky. The big dipper was at an azimuth of about 45 and an altitude of about 60. I also saw the constellation cancer which was at an azimuth of about 200 and an altitude of approximately 80. I had never seen cancer before actually knowing what it was so it was pretty cool when I found it and could actually see the constellation fit together. The same thing occurred with the constellation Leo. Leo was at an azimuth of 160 and an altitude of 80. One interesting thing about Leo that I had never seen before was the bright star Regulus. I was slightly overwhelmed by the brightness of this star. It stood out like a sore thumb. Another thing that was particularly interesting was the moon. I didn't notice the moon when I left work or on my drive home It wasn't until I got home and looked around that I noticed the moon glowing in the south east. Unfortunately it was behind some trees so I couldn't see it as well as i would've liked. However from what I could see it was not quite a full moon yet not a half moon either. There was a little more then half of the moon that could be seen. I was surprised once I saw the moon at how many stars could be seen. The moon was pretty bright but since it was at a low altitude it's brightness didn't overpower most of the stars. It was a beautiful night to witness the sky and I wish I could have looked longer but unfortunately it was extremely cold and I had to get up for class at 8:30am so it was time for me to go to bed.