Moon passing through Gemini and Leo

As we transition from spring to summer, during the early phases of the lunar cycle the Moon's path appears to jump out of the western twilight sky fairly steeply toward the zenith. Gemini is the zodiac constellation that appears highest in the sky compared to the 11 other constellations of the zodiac. Thus in springtime when the Moon passes through Gemini, it appears fairly high in the western sky. This week you can see the Moon on its journey first through Gemini, then briefly across Cancer, then into Leo and a flyby of Saturn.

I am fascinated by the daily lengthening of the minutes and hours of sunlight at this time of year. Each day the sun rises a minute earlier and sets a minute later. It's very interesting to watch the transition from sunset to dark moving later and later each evening. In addition to the timing of sunset, the location is also changing. The sun sets quite far north of west and the point of sunset continues to move north until the summer solstice.