Big Dipper Graces the Northeast Tonight as Crescent Moon Dims in Southwest

After dark on March 24, the Big Dipper rises in the northeastern sky while the Moon sits about 40% illuminated in the southwestern sky; use the Big Dipper’s pointer stars, Merak and Dubhe, to find Polaris in the north, and note the handle points toward Arcturus in the east-northeast as spring skies unfold.