The bright Moon has some bright companions tonight: the planet Jupiter and the stars Aldebaran and Elnath. But the Moon washes out some fainter lights: the Leonid meteor shower.

The shower is expected to reach its peak late tonight – perhaps 15 or 20 meteors per hour. But only the brightest of them will shine through the glare of the just-past-full Moon.

The nearby planet and stars will be much easier to see – especially Jupiter, which will stand below the Moon as they climb into good view. It’s the brightest pinpoint of light in the sky for most of the night.

Jupiter is so bright for several reasons. For one, it’s the largest planet in the solar system – 11 times the diameter of Earth. For another, it’s blanketed by clouds that reflect most of the sunlight that strikes them. And finally, the planet is especially close now – less than 400 million miles away. It’ll be at its closest early next month.

Aldebaran is to the lower right of the Moon. It’s Taurus’s brightest star. It represents the bull’s eye. It shines bright orange, but the color might be muted by the nearby Moon.

Elnath is the second-brightest star of Taurus. It’s at the tip of one of the bull’s horns. It, too, is washed out by the moonlight. Even so, it should still be pretty easy to pick out – part of a beautiful arc around the gibbous Moon.

Jupiter and Elnath will be even closer to the Moon tomorrow night. More about that tomorrow.

Script by Damond Benningfield