The stars of the Northwest celestial dome we see night after night are random arrangements of stars in a huge range of brightness.
People throughout the ages tried to make sense of what they saw looking for “pictures” made up by the stars that represented characters in stories or legends or mythologies. These pictures in the stars are what we call constellations.
Most of the tales that are best known in this part of the world are spinoffs of Greek and Roman mythology.
While different cultures have their own mythology all the constellations are pictures of the characters that make up these soap operas of the night sky.
The connecting lines of stars in the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen resemble a giant W that’s now hanging nearly upside down in the northwest.
The right side of the constellation Leo the Lion now rising in the east after twilight outlines a backward question mark.
The constellation Auriga the Chariot Driver now shining very high in the southeast sky looks like a lopsided pentagon.
One of the best patterns is that of the seven stars that make up the rearend and tail of Ursa Major the Big Bear. Those stars also make what we call the Big Dipper, presently standing diagonally on its handle in the low northeast sky.
There are much larger asterisms in the sky that use stars from several adjoining constellations. These can be great tools in learning constellations.
One of these is known as the Summer Triangle made up the brightest stars from three separate constellations.
At the corners are: Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan and Altair in the Aquila the Eagle. Each one of these stars is the brightest shiner in their home constellation.
The very best asterism of the night sky right now is the Winter Triangle on display in the southeastern sky.
The Winter Triangle is a perfect equilateral triangle made up three bright stars from three separate constellations.
It’s made up of the stars Betelgeuse from the constellation Orion the Hunter; Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation small Canis Minor the Little Dog; and Sirius, the brightest star in Canis Major the Big Dog.
Sirius also happens to be brightest star in the night sky right now. These three stars are the brightest starlike objects in that part of the sky with the exception of very bright planet Jupiter shining to the upper left.
Sirius and Procyon are almost twice the diameter of our sun and are more luminous than our home star. The main reason they’re so bright is that they’re relatively close to Earth.
Procyon is 11 light-years away and Sirius is just over 8 light-years away. (One light-year equals just under 6 trillion miles.)
Sirius can be a whole lot of fun to view through even a small telescope because its light has to travel through much more of Earth’s blurring atmosphere. If upper air winds are strong and there’s a lot of turbulence, Sirius can appear as a changing kaleidoscope of colors as its light rays get bounced around.
The third star of the triangle, Betelgeuse, is more than 500 light-years away. This super red giant star is almost a billion miles in diameter and sooner or later will burst in a colossal supernova explosion, maybe within a million years.
Celestial huggings this week: The full moon is passing by the bright planet Jupiter in the southeastern evening sky. On Tuesday the moon will pass about 6 degrees to the right of Jupiter.
Mike Lynch is an astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations.” Check his website, www.lynchandthestars.com.
The Everett Astronomical Society: www.everettastro.org.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
