Sky Tonight—April 5, Drive a spike to Spica
Tonight, let the Big Dipper introduce you to another bright star.
Sky Tonight—April 2, Follow the arc to Arcturus
Arcturus is one of the easiest stars to find, using the Big Dipper as a guide.
Sky Tonight—April 1, Use Big Dipper to find Polaris and Little Dipper
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.
Sky Tonight—March 27, Use the Big Dipper to locate the Hunting Dogs
ind two Hunting Dogs seen by the ancient stargazers to be nipping at the Bear’s heels.
Sky Tonight—March 3, Recognize the Big Dipper … and Little Dipper
This is a great time of year to begin looking for the Big Dipper in the evening.
Sky Tonight—March 2, Use Big Dipper to locate Polaris, the North Star
At one time, sailors’ livelihoods and survival depended on their lucky stars –
Sky Tonight—February 8, Use Big Dipper’s Pointers to find Polaris
A well-known trick for finding the North Star, or Polaris, is that the two outermost stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris
Sky Tonight—January 16, Cassiopeia and Big Dipper on opposite sides of North Star
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
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 13, Big Dipper bowl points to bright star Capella
Although the Big Dipper and Capella move throughout the night, the Big Dipper bowl stars always point in the general direction of Capella, the northernmost first-magnitude star in all the…
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 12, Big Dipper, aka Sky Bear, comes to Earth on November evenings
Every year, the Big Dipper (Great Bear) descends to its lowest point in the sky on November evenings. In fact, people in the southern part of the United States can’t…