Fixtures of the northern sky, the Big and Little Dippers, swing around the North Star, Polaris, once a day or once every 23 hours and 56 minutes. Polaris marks the north celestial pole around which all the stars of the northern sky appears to rotate. It also marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle and the whole constellation (Ursa Minor) is circumpolar, which means it’s always above the horizon in northern latitudes to as far south as the tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees north latitude). The Big Dipper is part of the larger constellation, Ursa Major. It ascends in the northeast on spring evenings and descends in the northwest on fall evenings. An old saying, “spring up and fall down” reminds us where to look for the Big Dipper at different seasons of the year.
The seven stars that comprise the Big Dipper are now “springing up” …show more content…
Arcturus is a red giant star located 37 light-years away. It is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere and visible from both Earth's hemispheres as it is located 19° north of the celestial equator. The orange-colored star passes high overhead on late spring evenings.
Following the curve of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus and beyond, is the bright star, Spica, in the constellation Virgo. Spica is a blue-white first-magnitude star 250 light-years away. The best evening views of Spica come from spring to late summer when the star arcs across the southern sky. Spica rises in the east-southeast as the sunset glow fades in mid-April and is visible most of the night. Two months later it climbs to its highest point to the south in early evening. By the end of August, Spica can be viewed only briefly in the west-southwestern sky as darkness falls.
It’s easy to find these stars and constellations by recalling the phrase, "arc to Arcturus then speed on to
The seven stars that comprise the Big Dipper are now “springing up” …show more content…
Arcturus is a red giant star located 37 light-years away. It is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere and visible from both Earth's hemispheres as it is located 19° north of the celestial equator. The orange-colored star passes high overhead on late spring evenings.
Following the curve of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus and beyond, is the bright star, Spica, in the constellation Virgo. Spica is a blue-white first-magnitude star 250 light-years away. The best evening views of Spica come from spring to late summer when the star arcs across the southern sky. Spica rises in the east-southeast as the sunset glow fades in mid-April and is visible most of the night. Two months later it climbs to its highest point to the south in early evening. By the end of August, Spica can be viewed only briefly in the west-southwestern sky as darkness falls.
It’s easy to find these stars and constellations by recalling the phrase, "arc to Arcturus then speed on to