During the past week, the waxing moon has completed about one-quarter of its journey around the Earth. Our closest celestial neighbor is now alongside our planet in its orbit, and we will see the moon just above Jupiter tonight as it sits about 30 degrees above the southern sky after sunset.

By tomorrow evening, the moon will have reached first quarter phase, and it will have shifted about 12 degrees to the east or left of Jupiter.

This pretty pairing between Jupiter and the moon is easy for stargazers to see because Jupiter shines at a dazzling bright --2.23 magnitude. The "Jovian Giant" is also located in Capricorn, an area of the sky composed of mostly third and fourth magnitude stars.

Jupiter will be easy to locate again next year as well. The celestial jewel will only travel about 40 degrees to the east along the ecliptic and sit in Aquarius, another area of the sky composed of mostly dim fourth magnitude stars.

That's Fascinating, where Mark Roth spotlights the odd and the interesting in everyday life, is featured exclusively in the Opinion section on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.