Good evening fellow stargazers!
With the summer solstice only a few weeks away, some of the more prominent summer constellations are again beginning to appear in the skies here in South Carolina.
Last last night about an hour after midnight I was able to capture a great shot of three of these low-lying constellations in the southern sky just over the trees: the Constellations Scorpius The Scorpion, Libra The Scales, and the "teapot" asterism of Sagittarius The Archer.
The brightest star of the Constellation Scorpius is the red supergiant star Antares -- the Heart of the Scorpion -- and the fifteenth-brightest star in the night sky. Once you locate that star, the rest of the Scorpion is easy to find.
Closest to the head of the Scorpion are Zubenelgenubi (Alpha Librae) and Zubeneschamail (Beta Librae), the two brightest stars of the nearby Constellation Libra.
The final Constellation, Sagittarius The Archer, is a bit trickier since its lower on the horizon and you need a higher place to spot the whole constellation. As seen from the northern hemisphere, the constellation's brighter stars form an easily recognizable asterism known as "the Teapot" which I outlined in the photo.
If you are fortunate enough to live someplace with far less light pollution than I do, it might be possible to see with the right light filters on your telescope, or camera, the densest part of our own Milky Way galaxy center, which is located between Scorpius and Sagittarius.
Using the tip of the "spout" of the Teapot in roughly a line between that star and Antares, you can locate the Galactic Center where a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) sits. I highlighted the approximate location in my photo above.
Throughout the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere these three constellations will remain largely visible along the southern horizon.
I hope y'all enjoyed my photos and presentation, have a wonderful evening and as always keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!
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