Latest news with #constellations
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Wyoming Skies: June brings summer solstice and constellations in every direction
June 20, 2025, brings us the summer solstice. Supposedly, that means warmer weather has finally arrived in Wyoming. This month, if you go out after it gets dark, you will see some wonderful stars and constellations in every direction. If you face north you will see a 'W' above the northern horizon; those five stars are the constellation Cassiopeia. The Little Dipper, also known as Ursa Minor, is halfway above the northern horizon. And almost overhead you can see the Big Dipper, the most well-known group of stars in Ursa Major. If you follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper you'll run into the brilliant star Arcturus. Arcturus marks the bottom of Boötes, a constellation that looks like a kite or ice cream cone. If you continue the arc from the handle of the Big Dipper, you'll hit another bright star, that is Spica in the constellation Virgo. And follow that curve to Corvus, a quadrilateral-shape group of stars. Facing west you'll see the twin stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, above the horizon. They'll slip toward the horizon more each day. And higher in the sky, you can see the spring constellation of Leo. It's easily picked out by locating the Sickle, a group of stars that look like a backward question mark. The bright star at the bottom of the Sickle is Regulus. If you look to the south, you can see two constellations very close to the horizon; Scorpius resembles a fishhook or the letter 'J,' and Sagittarius is obvious as a group of stars that resembles an old-fashioned teapot. And here's a fun fact, the spout of the Teapot it is pointing toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Finally, when you face east you will see a definite sign that summer is here because the Summer Triangle shines brightly in the sky. The Summer Triangle is made up of these three bright stars: Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus, and Altair in Aquila. Under dark skies, you'll see the Milky Way arching up from the northeast horizon, starting under Cassiopeia, passing overhead through Cygnus and Aquila, finally ending up in the south going through Sagittarius and Scorpius. What's cool about the Milky Way is that this glowing patch of stars, gas and dust is a spiral arm of our galaxy. In order of brightness in the evening sky you will find: Mercury, Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Altair, Antares, Spica, Pollux, Deneb, Regulus and Mars. Planets this month are split between the evening and morning sky. In the June evening sky, look for Mars as a steady red light slowly moving across the stars of Leo. Mars will be closest to the bright star Regulus on the evening of June 16. Jupiter has dominated the evening sky for months, but is challenging to spot in the bright western twilight and will slip away toward the beginning of the month. It's being replaced by Mercury emerging in the evening sky about 30-40 minutes after sunset. Mercury will reach its greatest distance from the sun on July 4. Morning observers can catch brilliant Venus before dawn; it reached its greatest distance from the sun at the end of May. Golden Saturn is higher in the sky than Venus and will move away from Venus each day. The moon is a great way to locate stars and planets. The moon is near Mars on the evening of June 1, and will float near Saturn on the mornings of June 18 and 19. Then it visits Venus on the mornings of June 21 and 22. Then it will move back to the evening sky, so the moon will float near Mercury on June 26 and will pay Mars another visit on the evening of June 29. The full moon of June occurs overnight on June 10-11. It's the Full Strawberry Moon — named to coincide with the abundance of strawberries harvested this month — and will lie near the bright star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. The full moon will be visible all night. A fun trio to look for on the evenings around June 24 is Mercury forming a line with Pollux and Castor in the evening twilight. Binoculars might help spot them. There is a meteor shower this month that might be worth watching for before dawn on the morning of June 7. It's the daytime Arietids. They are the most active daytime meteor shower, but how can you watch for them in the daytime? Its radiant — or point where the meteors seem to originate — rises before the sun. So you might catch meteors shooting up from the horizon before dawn. How fun would that be to see?
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Look up: Venus nears its greatest distance from sunrise. Plus, a New Moon is coming soon.
May is nearing an end, but the night sky still has plenty to offer for stargazers this month. Several visible planets, a New Moon, Venus' pull from the sunrise and Manhattanhenge will all occur within the coming week. Throughout the remainder of May, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are visible in the early morning and evening hours. In the evening, Jupiter will be visible low, toward the western horizon each night. And in the mornings, both Venus and Saturn will be visible in the sky, shining in the east for about an hour before sunrise, according to space publication EarthSky. But planets aren't the only things to keep an eye out for as May comes to a close. Here's a look at some stargazing highlights through June 1. Stargazing: This US airport was just Dark Sky certified Exploring outer space: Where are the best places to view the night sky? Astrotourism explained Stargazing this May? The Big Dipper and Leo the Lion will be the easiest collections of stars to spot. Here's how: Big Dipper: Appears like a dot-to-dot kitchen ladle. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Big Dipper is visible above the horizon continuously. Leo the Lion: You can use the Big Dipper to locate Leo the Lion. Find the Big Dipper's pointer stars − located on the outer edge of the ladle. Draw an imaginary line southward to locate Leo. The constellation's most prominent feature is a backward question mark, which is Leo's head and mane. For a map of the best places to stargaze, visit EarthSky's interactive map at On the morning of Sunday, May 25, about 30 minutes before sunrise, a thin, waning crescent and bright Venus will be visible near the eastern horizon, according to EarthSky. The next New Moon will fall at around 11:02 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 27, EarthSky reports. Because the moon isn't visible during this phase, it will be one of the best nights to go stargazing, as the night sky isn't illuminated. Manhattanhenge, or Manhattan Soloistic, happens twice a year when the setting sun is aligned with the east-west streets of Manhattan's main grid, illuminating both the north and south sides of the borough. The upcoming Manhattanhenge will occur at around 8:13 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 28, according to the American Museum of Natural History. According to NYC Parks and the American Museum of Natural History, the best places to view Manhattanhenge are: 14th Street 23rd Street 34th Street 42nd Street 57th Street Tudor City Overpass in Manhattan Hunter's Point South Park in Long Island City, Queens The next Manhattanhenge to occur this year will be around 8:22 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 12. Since March, Venus has been visible in the morning sky, just east of sunrise. But the planet's greatest elongation, when it will be the farthest from sunrise, is coming up on Sunday, June 1 at midnight ET. This occurs when Venus is the farthest from the sun on the sky's dome, according to EarthSky. Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stargazing: New Moon coming, Venus nears greatest distance from sunrise
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Starwatch: Boötes, the herdsman ploughing the heavens
This week, we track down another prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's spring night sky: Boötes, the herdsman. Listed as part of the 48 constellations described by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, it is now one of the International Astronomical Union's 88 official constellations. Although known as the herdsman, some stories associated with the constellation depict him as more of a ploughman, driving the constellation of Ursa Major, the great bear, around the pole. In these stories, Ursa Major is changed into an oxen and plough. The nearby constellation of Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs, is also said to be associated with Boötes. On many old star maps, he is depicted as holding these dogs on a leash. The chart shows the view looking south-east from London at 22.00BST on 19 May, although the view will remain essentially unchanged all week. The brightest star in Boötes is the red giant star Arcturus, which is the fourth brightest star in the night sky. Although it has about the same mass as our sun, it has swollen to 25 times its size and now pumps out around 170 times more light. Boötes is also visible from the southern hemisphere, where it will appear quite close to the northern horizon.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
From Leaping Leo to the Big Dipper: Here's how to see the bright stars of spring rising in the east this season
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The constellations march ever westward from month to month, with old ones disappearing into the sunset as new ones rise in the east. This is because the stars run like clockwork on a specific schedule. Thanks to the fact that our Earth rotates on its axis once every 23 hours and 56 minutes, a star — any star — rises and sets four minutes earlier every day than it did the day before. This motion means that any given array of constellations will appear in the same location of the sky two hours earlier each month. So, the celestial scene you witnessed by staying up until 11 p.m. in mid-April is already there at dusk in mid-May. At this time of year, as the last of the bright patterns of winter decline in the west, the milder stars of spring have ascended to dominate our southern and eastern skies. For those of us living in the cities, surrounded by smoke and haze and bright lights, it becomes easy to overlook the beauty of the night. For seldom do we travel out into the country, far from the lights of humanity to enjoy this grandeur. Our distant ancestors, however, had no such concerns; they could see the sky at night perfectly from wherever they were. Their imaginations were not weakened by pictures in newspapers and magazines, movies or television. The night sky provided their sole entertainment, and they weaved stories filled with imagination, using patterns of stars for illustration. These patterns — the constellations — are the legacy of their imagination; the constellations that we know have their origins in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, thanks to the ancient Greeks and Romans. These constellations (plus some modern ones) are now accepted everywhere in the West. But what about traditional cultures in the rest of the world? Interestingly, the night sky contains a number of star patterns so striking that almost every culture in the world has recognized them. Several of them occupy our current spring sky. Probably the most famous is positioned almost directly over our heads this week as darkness falls: the Big Dipper. Officially, the Dipper is not a full-fledged constellation, but an asterism — just a part of the constellation known as Ursa Major, the Great Bear. And indeed, Ursa Major is a big bear. Along with the seven stars that compose the Big Dipper, its surrounding stars sprawl across a whole quadrant of the sky. In area it's the third biggest constellation, behind Hydra the Water Snake and Virgo the Maiden. Interestingly, the ancient Greeks associated the seven stars of the Big Dipper with a bear long before they added the surrounding stars to complete the picture of a ferocious animal with a head and paws some two millennia ago. But what made the Greeks think of a bear? The Dipper's handle must be the bear's long tail, yet bears possess short, stubby tails. TOP TELESCOPE PICK: See the night sky up close with the Celestron NexStar 4SE, an ideal telescope for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) believed that the bear was the only animal that could survive in the frigid north — indeed, our word "arctic" is derived from arctos, which is Greek for "bear." By this logic, only a bear could inhabit the northern sky. We can use the Big Dipper to find other familiar stars and constellations currently adorning our springtime sky. The two stars forming the outer end of the Dipper's bowl, are known as the "pointer" stars and currently point straight down toward Polaris, the North Star, which is due north. The aim isn't perfect but close enough. Polaris marks the end of the tail of Ursa Minor the Little Bear, or the handle of the Little Dipper, whose stars are quite faint, except the North Star and the two in the front of its bowl; these have been called the "Guardians" because they seem to march endlessly, like sentries circling the pole. At New York's Hayden Planetarium, we would ask our audiences to imagine that the bowl of the Dipper was filled with water. "Now, imagine if we poked a hole in the bottom of the bowl and let the water spill out. Who would get wet?" With our electric pointer, we'd then follow the imaginary flow of water down to a pattern of stars composed of a triangle and a backward question mark shape that's about 1½ fist-widths at arm's length tall. This is the "Sickle" that marks the head and mane of Leo the Lion. The Sickle is a landmark of the spring skies; it's composed of six stars, the brightest of these is Regulus, a blue-white first magnitude star, 79 light years away which marks the base of the Sickle. The pointer stars of the Big Dipper point in one direction to the North Star; in the other direction to the triangle that makes up the lion's hind quarters and tail. Going back to the Big Dipper, if we follow the curve of the Dipper's handle past its end star for about 30 degrees ("three fists"), you'll come to a brilliant star — in rank, the fourth brightest in the sky — which shines with a distinct orange hue known as Arcturus, in Boötes the Herdsman. The other stars of Boötes are much fainter, of third and fourth magnitude. Most of them form a kite-shaped figure extending close to the Dipper's handle, although my personal preference is to visualize Boötes as an ice cream cone. Arcturus (at a magnitude of -0.05), one of the few stars mentioned by name in the Bible, is a giant, about 25 times the diameter of our sun and 36.7 light years away. Boötes is chasing the Bears with a pair of Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), which makes a small constellation between Arcturus and the Dipper's bowl. If we continue to follow the arc of the Big Dipper's handle past Arcturus, we eventually will "speed to Spica," the brightest star of Virgo the Maiden. Spica is a blue-white first magnitude star 250 light-years away. The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the United States; it is interesting to note that the light from Spica that started on its journey toward Earth at the time that the Declaration of Independence was ratified in 1776, will finally arrive next year. More night sky: — Night sky for tonight: Visible planets, stars and more in this evening's sky — Night sky, May 2025: What you can see tonight [maps] — Best stargazing apps 2025: AR apps and virtual star maps to help you navigate the night sky Just to the right of Spica, the most striking star pattern in the spring skies next to Leo's Sickle is a little four-sided figure of fairly bright stars, resembling a triangle whose top has been removed by a slanting cut. Like most of the constellations it bears little resemblance to the object it is supposed to represent: Corvus the Crow. Just follow the direction of its slanting top toward the left (east) and you will soon comet to Spica. In the old allegorical star atlases, Virgo is holding a spike of wheat where Spica glows, evidently representing the harvest time which occurs in mid-October when the sun is passing that bright star. And apparently, Corvus is lying in wait to snatch the wheat from out of Virgo's hand! At least that's the story. At this time of the year, eleven first magnitude stars are in the sky simultaneously as the sky darkens. Brilliant Sirius, a winter luminary and the brightest of all the stars, is disappearing in the west-southwest, while Deneb, a star of the summer season, is just beginning to peek above the north-northeast horizon. And our spring evening sky is also augmented with two bright planets. Low in the west-northwest is brilliant Jupiter, which will remain in view for another few weeks before it vanishes into the bright evening twilight. And much higher in the southwest sky glows Mars. Currently located against the dim stars of Cancer, on June 17 — just a few days shy of the official end of spring — it will call attention to itself in the west after dusk by forming a striking "double star" with Regulus. The planet will be just a trifle dimmer than the star but their proximity intensifies the orange-yellow of Mars and the blue-white of Regulus. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.
