Arc to Arcturus

Every amateur astronomer (or at least those without GoTo scopes) understands the importance of being familiar with the constellations and bright stars of the night sky. These are the signposts that let us “star-hop” our way to faint fuzzies we’re trying to find. One of the most important signposts, high in the night sky at this time of year, is an orange giant star called Arcturus. With a visual magnitude of −0.05, Arcturs is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes and the third brightest star in the night sky.  Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle toward the south, and bright Arcturus will be quickly found.  Continue following the same arc to the south and you’ll come to Spica, a blue giant, and the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.  This path gives rise to the old saying “Arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica.”  If you’re an experienced amateur astronomer, this path is well known.  If you’re just learning, or would like to learn, try to follow the arc tonight and learn two of the main signposts in the night sky.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Stars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.