Sky Tonight—April 24, Kochab and Pherkad in the Little Dipper
Kochab and Pherkad served as twin pole stars from about 1500 BC to about 500 BC.
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 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—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—December 10, Celestial Chariot high overhead at midnight
According to star lore, Capella represents Amalthea, the she-goat that fed the infant Zeus when he was hidden away in a cave on Mt Ida in Crete.
EarthSky Tonight—December 4, Cassiopeia high up in northern sky on December evenings
From a dark country sky, you will see that Cassiopeia sits atop of the luminous band of stars known as the Milky Way.
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 27, Orion the Hunter rises in the east at mid-evening
Orion the Mighty Hunter – perhaps the easiest to identify of all constellations – rises at mid-evening in late November and early December.
EarthSky Tonight—October 16, See Cassiopeia and Big Dipper on autumn evenings
On October evenings, the Big Dipper resides rather low in the northwest sky, and the W or M-shape constellation Cassiopeia the Queen sits on her throne in the upper northeast…
EarthSky Tonight—September 7, Use Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Tonight’s chart shows the Polaris, the Big and Little Dippers for a September evening. Notice that a line from the two…