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Friday, March 29, 2024

Posts Tagged ‘Altair’

Sky Tonight—March 8, The Summer Triangle, a signpost

Sky Tonight—March 8, The Summer Triangle, a signpost for all seasons

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org To see Jupiter in March 2011, look west soon after sunset As seen from our northern temperate latitudes, the three brilliant stars of the Summer Triangle – Vega, Deneb and Altair – are out for at least part of the night every night of the year. Presently, the Summer Triangle shines in the eastern sky at and before dawn. Like the Big Dipper, the Summer Triangle is an asterism – a pattern of stars that is not ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 28, Summer Triangle in west on

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 28, Summer Triangle in west on fall and winter evenings

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The Summer Triangle – the signature star formation of summer – is made up of the three brilliant stars Vega, Deneb and Altair. Although December is just around the corner, the Summer Triangle still lights up these autumn evenings. What’s more, the Summer Triangle will continue to shine after dark throughout December and January. Look for it at early evening, fairly high in your western sky. In late June ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—September 27, Summer Triangle high

EarthSky Tonight—September 27,  Summer Triangle high overhead on autumn evenings

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Even as autumn is beginning, we still have several months to watch the large asterism known as the Summer Triangle. This huge star pattern looms from south to overhead in the autumn evening sky. The Summer Triangle consists of three bright stars in three separate constellations. The stars are Vega in the constellation Lyra, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, and Altair in the constellation Aquila. Today’s chart has you looking ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—August 21, Summer Triangle high

EarthSky Tonight—August 21,  Summer Triangle high overhead on summer evenings

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Our sky chart shows the Summer Triangle asterism as it appears at late evening. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, Vega – the Summer Triangle’s brightest star – shines high overhead around 10:00 p.m. daylight saving time (9:00 p.m. standard time) this evening. Altair resides to the lower left (southeast) of Vega, and Deneb lies to Vega’s left (east). As the stars drift westward during the night, Deneb will swing upward, ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—August 8, Look overhead to see the

Earthsky Tonight—August 8, Look overhead to see the summer Milky Way

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The moon will be new tomorrow and then in a waxing crescent phase in the west after sunset in the next few days. That means that, over the coming week, the moon will set soon after sunset and be mostly absent from the evening sky. A moonless sky means this is a good time to get out into the country for a look at the summer Milky Way: the edgewise view into our own galaxy. Here is the view if you are standing facing east – but ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—July 19, Summer Triangle: Altair

Earthsky Tonight—July 19, Summer Triangle: Altair and Aquila the Eagle

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org In the east after dark, near the horizon, Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle, springs into view. This is the bottom star of the Summer Triangle. The Great Rift of the Summer Milky Way passes through the Summer Triangle, between the stars Vega and Altair. Thought the Great Rift and the Milky Way will be hard to see tonight because of the waxing gibbous moon. In dark skies in late July and the first ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—11: Altair, guide star to two small

Earthsky Tonight—11: Altair, guide star to two small constellations

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Look in the east at nightfall and evening to locate a sparkling blue-white star not far from the horizon. That is Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle, and the second brightest star in the Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle formation is made up of the three bright summer stars, Vega, Deneb and Altair. The Summer Triangle lights up the eastern sky on June evenings. Once you have found Altair, it is a ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—June 10: Find the Summer Triangle

Earthsky Tonight—June 10: Find the Summer Triangle ascending in the east

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org An asterism is not the same thing as a constellation. Constellations generally come to us from ancient times. Earlier in this century, the boundaries of 88 constellations were officially drawn by the International Astronomical Union. On the other hand, asterisms are whatever you want them to be. They are just patterns on the sky’s dome. You can also make up your own asterisms, in much the same way you can recognize shapes in ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—May 06, Milky Way encircles the

Earthsky Tonight—May 06, Milky Way encircles the horizon on May evenings

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Where is the Milky Way these days? That faint luminous band of stars crossing the dome of sky is nowhere to be seen on May evenings. Why? The disk of our Milky Way is shaped like a pancake. On May evenings, the plane of the pancake-shaped galactic disk coincides with the plane of the horizon. Because the Milky Way disk sits along the horizon in every direction, the Milky Way doesn’t appear in the sky on May evenings. The ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — March 8, 2010: The Summer

Earthsky Tonight — March 8, 2010: The Summer Triangle, a signpost for all seasons

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org As seen from our northern temperate latitudes, the three brilliant stars of the Summer Triangle – Vega, Deneb and Altair – are out for at least part of the night every night of the year. Presently, the Summer Triangle shines in the eastern sky at and before dawn. Like the Big Dipper, the Summer Triangle is an asterism – a pattern of stars that is not one of the officially recognized 88 constellations. To gauge the size of ... Full Story