Earthsky Tonight—April 7, 2010: Kochab and Pherkad in the Little Dipper
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…
Earthsky Tonight — April 6, 2010: 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.
Earthsky Tonight — April1, 2010 Follow the arc to Arcturus
Now is the perfect time to look outside in the evening and learn a phrase useful to skywatchers. Scouts learn it. Grandparents teach it to kids. It was one of…
Tonight, the waning gibbous moon beams near two bright and beautiful stars
Tonight, the waning gibbous moon beams near two bright and beautiful stars, Arcturus and Spica.
Earthsky Tonight—March 9: Ancient eye test relied on two stars in Big Dipper
The ancient eye test for those wishing to join the Roman army was administered using stars in the handle of our modern-day Big Dipper. If you passed, you got a…
Earthsky Tonight — March 4, 2010: Recognize the Big Dipper … and Little Dipper
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…
Earthsky Tonight — March 3, 2010: Use the Big Dipper to locate Polaris
At one time, sailors’ livelihoods and survival depended on their lucky stars – most especially, the pointer stars of the Big Dipper. Drawing a line through the two outer stars…