Salutations fellow stargazers!
This
evening I was able to capture a really good shot of the bright stars of
the Big Dipper asterism of the Constellation Ursa Major in the evening sky overhead just above the
treetops, along with the neighboring bright star Arcturus.
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The shot came out really well, even picking up both the double stars Mizar and its fainter companion star, Alcor, in the middle of the Big Dipper's handle making this star pair very easy to locate.
In actuality Mizar is really four stars, and Alcor is two stars, but appear as two binary stars to the naked eye, or with a really good pair of binoculars. In my case with my trusty Sony DSC-H300 digital camera with 35X Optical Zoom Lens mounted on a tripod in my backyard.
Following a line from the tip of the dipper's handle you will easily find the bright orange giant star, Arcturus -- the brightest star in the Constellation Bootes the Herdsman and the fourth brightest star in the night sky as seen from Earth's surface.
The name Arcturus is derived from the Greek star name arktoyros meaning "the Guard". This star is known in skylore as the Bear Guard for its close proximity to Ursa Major and its about 37 light-years in distance from the Sun.
Have a wonderful evening, y'all!
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