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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Posts Tagged ‘Polaris’

Sky Tonight—April 24, Kochab and Pherkad in the

Sky Tonight—April 24, Kochab and Pherkad in the Little Dipper

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org If you draw an imaginary line between the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper – and extend that line northward on the sky’s dome – you’ll come to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, which is fainter and looks less like a dipper than the Big Dipper. Polaris is special because Earth’s axis nearly points to its location in the sky. Polaris is less ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 1, Use Big Dipper to find Polaris

Sky Tonight—April 1, Use Big Dipper to find Polaris and Little Dipper

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Here is the view northward on April evenings. At present the Big Dipper is high in the north. Notice the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper. These two stars – called Duhbe and Merak – always point to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is special because it always stays in the same spot in the northern sky. It is the star around which the entire northern sky appears to turn. That is because Polaris is ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—March 3, Recognize the Big Dipper …

Sky Tonight—March 3, Recognize the Big Dipper … and Little Dipper

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org We received a question about the Big and Little Dippers. “How can I locate both Ursa Minor and Ursa Major? I am seeing one of them in the sky . . . but cannot tell which one and where the other one is.” The answer is that, if you are seeing only one dipper, it is probably the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major. This constellation, also called the Greater Bear, contains the Big Dipper asterism that is ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—March 2, Use Big Dipper to locate

Sky Tonight—March 2, Use Big Dipper to locate Polaris, the North Star

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org People are always asking how to find Polaris, the North Star. It’s easy! Drawing a line through the two outer stars of the bowl of the Big Dipper faithfully points to Polaris. At one time, sailors’ livelihoods and survival depended on their lucky stars – most especially, the pointer stars of the Big Dipper. Scouts also learn to use the Big Dipper and Polaris to find the direction north. Polaris is not the ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—January 16, Cassiopeia and Big Dipper on

Sky Tonight—January 16, Cassiopeia and Big Dipper on opposite sides of North Star

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Bright star on January evenings? It’s the planet Jupiter The northern sky’s two most prominent sky patterns – the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen and the Big Dipper – both circle around Polaris, the North Star, once a day. They are opposite each other – one on either side of the North Star. The constellation Cassiopeia the Queen is easy to recognize in the northern sky, either in the evening or before ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—December 10, Celestial Chariot high

EarthSky Tonight—December 10, Celestial Chariot high overhead at midnight

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org On these long December nights, you can find the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. The Heavenly Chariot – with its brilliant yellow star Capella – starts the journey in the northeast at dusk, flies overhead at midnight and finishes up in the northwest at dawn. Our chart shows Auriga at around midnight, when this pentagon-shaped pattern hits the zenith, or highest point in the sky. With no moon in sight, a ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—December 4, Cassiopeia high up in

EarthSky Tonight—December 4, Cassiopeia high up in northern sky on December evenings

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org On these December evenings, the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen appears high in the northeastern sky at nightfall and swings directly over Polaris, the North Star, at about 8 p.m. local clock time. Cassiopeia – sometimes called The Lady of the Chair – is famous for having the shape of a telltale W or M. You will find this configuration of stars as a starlit M whenever she is highest in the sky, hovering ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 27, Orion the Hunter rises in

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 27, Orion the Hunter rises in the east at mid-evening

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Orion the Mighty Hunter – perhaps the easiest to identify of all constellations – rises at mid-evening in late November and early December. Depending on where you live, Orion will climb over your eastern horizon by around 8 to 9 p.m. tonight. Orion appears to be lying on his side when he first ascends into our eastern sky. Orion’s Belt of three moderately-bright stars juts more or less straight upward from ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—October 16, See Cassiopeia and Big

EarthSky Tonight—October 16, See Cassiopeia and Big Dipper on autumn evenings

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org On October evenings, the Big Dipper resides rather low in the northwest sky, and the W or M-shape constellation Cassiopeia the Queen sits on her throne in the upper northeast sky. These two star formations are like riders on opposite side of a Ferris Wheel. They spin around Polaris, the North Star, once a day. As one rises upward, the other plunges downward – and vice versa. As evening deepens into late night, the Big Dipper ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—September 7, Use Big Dipper to

EarthSky Tonight—September 7,  Use Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Tonight’s chart shows the Polaris, the Big and Little Dippers for a September evening. Notice that a line from the two outermost stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, the North Star. Also notice that Polaris marks the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper. Bright star in east? Might be planet Jupiter, nearly at its closest since 1951. The Big Dipper swings full circle (360 degrees) around Polaris in about 23 ... Full Story

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