In Depth |
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Here we see the constellation names, with a few
bright stars labeled. In the west, where the
last of the sunset lingers, we see three bright
stars marking Lyra the harp, Cygnus the swan,
and Aquila the eagle - Vega, Deneb, and Altair
respectively. These three stars were high
overhead during the summer but are now setting
earlier and earlier each night - new stars have
taken their place at the zenith as evening
begins. The most important of these new
patterns are straight up now: the square that
marks Pegasus the winged horse, and the two
lines of stars that are Andromeda the damsel in
distress.
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North of these are two more groups - a house shaped asterism, Cepheus the king, and the unmistakable "W" of Cassiopeia the queen: the parents of Andromeda in mythology. North of them, as always, is the north star, Polaris, top luminary of Ursa Minor the little bear. The southern sky features famous but faint zodiac star groups like Capricornus the sea goat, Aqaurius the water bearer, and Pisces the fish. The only bright star in the south is lonely Fomalhaut, the brightest star of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. He has big company, though - Cetus the sea monster, with two fairly bright stars. Looking east, we see signs of things to come: the bright winter stars of Taurus and Auriga already poking their heads up.
Remember, planets are not shown on this chart - for information about them, see our "planets this month" section.
Our constellation feature this month is the distinctive pair of constellations almost straight overhead: Pegasus and Andromeda. The explore them, click on the NEXT icon.
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