Also called Northern Crown, Corona Borealis is a semicircle of
stars. Its chief star is called Alphecca, comes into view one and a
quarter hours after Arcturus. The group of seven twinkling bright
stars is a beautiful sight for observation and enjoyment in the night
sky. The entire constellation is only 15 degrees wide.
HERCULES CONSTELLATION
The Hercules Constellation
The position of The Hercules Constellation in the sky
Hercules holds a bow in his outstretched arm. Just shot an arrow
to the Dragon or possibly
to the bird nearby. Hercules is located
directly north of Scorpius.
FOMALHAUT (Fish) (Pisces Austrinus)
Still lower in the southern sky than Antares, the lonely star
Fomalhaut is seen shining brightly. A line joining the Pointers to
the pole and extended 120 degrees beyond from the pole, it will reach
close to Fomalhaut. This star is at the end of a zigzag line of small
twinkling stars that runs across the southern sky in the autumn. The
small stars represent the stream of water that Aquarius is pouring
from his urn. The stream runs to the southern part of the
constellation Piscis Austrinus (Fish). And Fomalhaut means the mouth
of the Fish. It rises in Autumn and sinks in December from the night
sky. Fomalhaut and Capella rise about the same time. Fomalhaut path
is in a short arc. Capella takes more than two and a half hours to
rise at its meridian after Fomalhaut sinks. It is one of the four
Royal stars of Astrology. Others are Regulus, Antares and Aldebaran.
Fomalhaut is never quite one fourth way up towards the zenith from
the horizon.
Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus
It is the farthest south of all bright stars from our latitudes.
It is an autumn star appearing first in August. It gives out 14 times
brighter than sun. It is 22 ly away. It does not have a companion
star. It is a lone star.
ANDROMEDA AND PEGASUS
Daughter of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus, the beautiful
princess is chained to the rock, a curse due to her mother who
boasted too much of her beauty. The two constellations Andromeda and
Pegasus (the flying horse) are joined by one star at the corner of
pegasus square. The two are about 100,000 ly away.
SPICA
The 15th brightest star is Spica that rises not so long after
Arcturus. It rises a bit south of exact eastern point in the sky. We
can find Spica by extending the arc of the Dipper's handle through
Arcturus and about 30 degrees beyond the Arcturus. It can be located
by a straight line starting at the pointer nearest Polaris passing
diagonally through the bowl of the Dipper about 65 degrees beyond the
bottom of the Dipper. It is visible to the naked eye in the middle of
March at 8 O'clock in the evening.
Spica does not make a long arc like Arcturus or Capella. It stays
south of the celestial equator. It takes 11 hours for Spica to
complete its journey setting in the south western horizon. It takes
five and a half hours to reach the highest point in the sky about 45
degrees from the zenith in the southern sky in May. It stays in night
sky between sunset and midnight during February through early
October. In November, December and January, it shows up in the night
sky during the time between midnight and dawn. Spica lies in Virgo
constellation, close to the ecliptic, which is the apparent annual
path of the sun through the heavens.
Its color is bluish white, meaning its surface temperature is
greater than sun, Capella and Arcturus. It is 600 times brighter than
our sun and 260 ly away from us. Spica is receding from the earth at
1 mile per second. Spica means an ear of wheat. It is seen in the
Virgo constellation where a virgin holds a spear of wheat in her
hand.
VEGA IN (LYRA CONSTELLATION)
Vega appears about 3 hours after Arcturus in the north eastern
horizon. Its color is bluish white sand its surface temperature is
less than Spica but much greater than Arcturus or Capella. To find
Vega, draw a line from junction of the bowl of the Dipper to the
Polaris. Then draw a line from the polaris at right angle extending
it about 40 degrees to reach Vega on the same side of Dipper's
handle. Vega is on the opposite side of Capella about the pole. Vega
has the distinction of being accompanied by four stars in a
parallelogram. Vega like Capella is always seen sometime in the night
sky during the year. Vega is the main star in the constellation Lyra.
Magical Lyre in Orpheus hands gave music that tamed the wild beasts
and chained the rivers in their courses.
Early in May, the star Vega rises at the same time that the sun
sets and all summer long it is one of the brightest stars in the sky
overhead between 9 and 10 O'clock in the evening. It is above the
horizon for 18 hours and thus rises in 6 hours after it has set.
Vega is 50 times brighter than sun and 27 ly away. One of the most
interesting thing about Vega, is that our sun together with all its
planets seemed consistently journeying towards it or nearly towards
it in the constellation Lyra. Vega is approaching us at 10 miles per
second. Lyra appears as vulture in some old maps. Vega means the
"swooping vulture."
DENEB (IN CYGNUS CONSTELLATION)
A little more than hour after Vega has risen, a bright twinkling
star appears in the north eastern horizon at point 45 degrees from
the pole. It is called Deneb that rises about the same spot on the
horizon as Capella. It stays for 20 hours in the sky only obscured by
day light.
The highest point a star ever reaches in its daily course is called
its meridian. A line drawn from the Polaris to Deneb and to Vega
forms a right angle triangle in which Deneb lies at right angle.
Deneb lies in the constellation called Cygnus meaning the Swan, an
easily identifiable figure of stretched wing flying swan in the sky.
Deneb is the brightest star at the head of the figure also called
Northern Cross. In the spring when it rises in the north east, the
cross is upside down. At setting in the north west, it seems more
nearly upright and Deneb at its head sets last of all in the cross.
Deneb means "tail" for its position being in the tail section of the
constellation. It is sometimes called by its Arabic name Arided
meaning the "hindmost."
Deneb is 60,000 times than our sun's actual brightness and 1400 ly
away. It is white in color and its surface temperature same as Vega.
It is a member of a class of stars called Super Giant for being so
large.
Deneb arrives in Spring in the east one hour after Vega. It rises
after sunset in middle of May and sets one hour after sunset in early
March. The star at the foot of the cross is called Albireo, is a fine
double star. One of them is deep blue and the other is bright
orange.
In the constellation called Cygnus (Swan), head of Northern Cross,
ancients found it in the figure of Flying Swan. Deneb means "the
tail", because it appears in the tail section of the constellation
Cygnus. It is an Arabic translation of the word Arided meaning
"hindmost". It is 60,000 times brighter than sun, 1400 ly away, white
in color, of a class of stars called Supergiant, appears in the
middle of May (Spring) just after sunset and sets in early part of
March one hour after sunset.
The star at the foot of the Cross is called Albireo, a fine double
star. One is deep blue and the other is orange, easily visible with
the help of ordinary telescope.
ALTAIR (IN AQUILA CONSTELLATION)
About 80 degrees from the pole towards south, halfway between Deneb
and Vega, is the brilliantly bright star called Altair. It is 20
degrees directly south from Albireo at the base of the Northern
Cross. Altair is seen in the constellation Aquila meaning the eagle.
Altair is the middle of the three bright stars in a line. Altair
means "the flying eagle." Altair, Vega and Deneb when joined together
forms an acute angle triangle known as Summer Triangle, with its
short side towards north. Altair at its apex is in the south.
SUMMER TRIANGLE
Altair is in Aquila or the eagle constellation. Altair means the
flying eagle.
A brilliantly white (yellowish white) star located by moving down
the Cross from Deneb to its tail to Albireo and about 20 degrees more
to the first bright star is ALTAIR. About 10 degrees northeast from
Altair is the well known Constellation "Dolphinus," also called Job's
coffin.
Altair rises about 8 degrees north of the exact eastern point on
the horizon. An interesting figure near Altair is in the shape of a
diamond with a short tail, lying about 10 degrees northeast of
Altair. This group is called Dolphinus. It has a popular name called
"Job's coffin."
DELPHINUS
In the shape of a Dolphin, this constellation also called Job's
Coffin consists of 5 stars. It contains a variable star, a double
star and a spectroscopic binary star.
One seldom sees Altair during the first four months of the year.
It takes about 13 hours for Altair to make its journey across the
sky. Its color is white or yellowish white. Its surface temperature
is less than Vega but greater than Capella. Altair is actually 11
times more luminous than sun and 17 ly away from us. Altair is
approaching the earth at a speed of 16 miles per second.
SCORPIUS CONSTELLATION
Constellation Scorpius meaning scorpion that stung the Orion is
where Antares can be found. It is considered the hissing snake from
which Spenser represents Orion as "flying fast." The mighty hunter
Orion does not return to the sky until scorpion is gone. The two
Orion and Scorpion never appear together in the sky. The name Antares
signifies "Rival of Mars." When the Mars appears in the constellation
Scorpius, the two red colored objects are splendid rivals. Antares is
a red giant. It is 400 ly away. It is an old star cooler than sun as
the red color suggests. Most stars get their energy from fusion of
hydrogen atoms into helium. After spending all its hydrogen fuel, the
internal core tends to contract, star becomes hotter, for a brief
period of its life it lives on secondary sources of energy. The outer
layers then swell up and become very luminous. After thousands of
years of this spendthrift activity, the secondary sources are
exhausted. The star collapses on the inside and explode on the
outside, becoming a Nova or a new star. Gravitational forces then
attract the fragments back into smaller size feebly shining star of
the type known as White Dwarfs, e.g., companion of Sirius.
ANTARES
Antares is at its highest point (meridian) in June 22nd at 10
O'clock in the evening. At its highest point, it is only one quarter
way due south from the horizon to the zenith. It is one of the south
stars which always lies south of the celestial equator. It appears
farther south from Altair.
Antares is one of a binary system. Its companion has a greenish
color, not easily seen by small telescopes.
ALDEBARAN
The stars described in Chapter 1 through Chapter 10 earlier, have
a particular connection with the spring, summer and autumn months.
Capella shines throughout the winter, and in spring and fall as
well.
There are however 6 bright stars that are distinctly of the
winter. These 6 stars are Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Regel, Pollux,
Procyon and Sirius. Of these 6 stars, Aldebaran is the first to
appear in September a bit north of the east point in the horizon. It
glows with rosy light, demanding attention proclaiming as one of the
most importantly heavenly bodies.
It lies in the open end of a bright V-shaped cluster of stars
known as Hyades. The cluster is the head of the well known
constellation "Taurus" the bull, named by the Greeks. It is the fiery
eye of the enraged bull as he lowers his head charging Orion. The
shimmering light of Pleiades can also be shown in the same
constellation Taurus.
The meaning of the Arabic word Aldebaran is the "hindmost" or the
"follower" of Pleiades, as it appears directly below Pleiades.
Aldebaran shines for about 8 months in the sky every year. One hour
after the deep ruby red Antares vanishes below the western horizon,
another red star Aldebaran rises in eastern horizon. The two never
can be seen in the night sky together. The two are named Royal stars
in Astrology, a suggestion for royalty.
It is known as a standard 1st magnitude star. It is 70 ly away. At
the distance of the sun, it would send 100 times more light than sun.
It is receding from us at 30 miles per second from us. It lies in the
path of the moon and frequently obscured from our view by moon. Such
an intrusion of the moon is called "Occultation," when the subject
occulted is a planet or a star. A star disappearing behind the moon
shows no sensible disk. A planet gradually disappears. Aldebaran has
a faint companion star and belongs to the group of stars called Red
Giants. It is a dying star like Antares.
THE TWO DOG STARS: SIRIUS AND PROCYON (IN CANIS
MAJOR AND CANIS MINOR)
Moving down the belt of Orion, about 20 degrees south, you meet
the brightest star called Sirius, also called the Great Dog Star. It
is the chief star of the constellation Canis Major and hence the
name. It follows the heels of Orion in its journey in the sky. The
constellation names the season dog-days, for the sizzling hot summer
days (July and August) in which its presence is made known. During
this time, Sirius rises just after the sun in the southern sky. The
name Sirius comes from the Greek word scorching (hot summer) or
sparkling (excessively & brilliantly bright). Sometimes also
called Orion's Dog, Sirius is referred to as brining miseries to
men.
Sirius
appears in middle of November at 10 O'clock. I March and April it
shines in the southwest. It sinks with sun about the end of May.
Sirius is nearer than most bright stars, only 8 and a half ly
away. It has a companion star revolving in period of 50 years.
The other Dog star Procyon lies in the constellation Canis Minor.
Betelgeuse, Sirius and Procyon form an equilateral triangle, called
winter triangle. These three stars together with Rigel form almost
square. Procyon is at 11 ly away. It announces the arrival of Sirius
the chief. Procyon has companion star revolving at a period of 40
years.
REGULUS
Regulus is known by the shape of a sickle it forms with five other
stars.
REGULUS (IN LEO CONSTELLATION)
Regulus appears above the horizon a bit north of the east about 9
O'clock in New Years day or about the Christmas time. It is the chief
star of the eastern sky until Arcturus and Vega come into sight. It
is a sparkling white star with a slight hint of blue in its color. It
takes about 6 and three quarter of an hour to reach the meridian. It
shines in January through April in early part of the night sky. It
sinks completely in August being at the same place as the
sun. It is 140 times brighter than sun and 77 ly away. It is
found in the constellation Leo or the Lion (one of Zodiac signs) .
The blade of the sickle marks the shoulder of the lion while the
Regulus lies at its heart, sometimes named as "heart of the lion."
Regulus means "Chief." Sun stays in this constellation a bit more
than 5 weeks starting at 2nd week of August. An interesting star in
Leo, is the tail of the lion, called Denebola. Denebola points in the
direction of another star and thus forms a double star.
SOURCE FROM:
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellation_list.html
http://maps.seds.org/Const/const_family.html
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