Night Sky Photography -- 11-17-2020 -- Venus & The Great Diamond With Constellations

Good morning fellow Stargazers!

Once again your favorite blogger got up early this morning -- about an hour before sunrise -- to capture Venus and the early morning stars in the eastern sky. Among the stars included the major stars and the constellations that make up the Great Diamond asterism. 

In the first photo, you can see the four major stars that make up the Great Diamond: Denebola, Cor Caroli, Arcturus, and Spica -- which can be seen just through the tree next to bright Venus.

In the second photo I highlighted the major constellations located in the Great Diamond: Leo The Lion, Bootes The Herdsman, and Virgo The Maiden. I was able to just barely capture all the major stars of these constellations in the pre-dawn sky. 

 

The three southernmost stars (Denebola, Arcturus, and Spica) are also a part of their own asterism, the Spring Triangle. Interesting fact about Spring Triangle is that there are in fact two of them. Denebola makes up the more nearly equilateral version of the triangle while the star Regulus -- also located in the Constellation Leo The Lion -- makes a larger and more pie-piece-shaped triangle.

In my final photo I highlighted both versions of the Spring Triangle asterism, as well as the Arc To Arcturus which can be found by following the handle of the Big Dipper in the Constellation Ursa Major. Sky watchers use the phrase: follow the arc to Arcturus, and drive a spike (or speed on) to Spica, in order to locate the two stars in the sky dome. 

 

Astronomy is awesome!

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my early morning photography as much as I enjoy bringing it to y'all. Have a wonderful Dixie day and y'all be sure to keep your eyes to the skies!

Night Sky Photography -- 08-04-2020 -- The Big Dipper & The Arc To Arcturus

Good evening fell stargazers!

This evening I was able to capture a really good photo late after sunset in the west showing the Big Dipper star constellation with the red giant star, Arcturus. 

The sunset was so low that I was unable to capture the background to give a proper scale in the skydome -- the trees and nearby baseball field are both far too faint to see in the photo, but I was able to just capture all the stars in the Big Dipper and nearby Arcturus so that I could show y'all the "Arc To Arcturus". 

"Follow the arc to Arcturus, and drive a spike to Spica" was one of the first sky tools I learned to use in astronomy. Amateur astronomers use it as a means of finding both stars in the evening sky.  

The red line I added in the photo shows the arc which helps astronomers and fellow stargazers to easily locate Arcturus using the star Alkaid (Eta Ursae Majoris) at the end of the Big Dipper. Follow Alkaid in the line to the bright giant orange star. Arcturus is a giant star with an estimated distance of 37 light-years from our own sun and is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes The Herdsman -- known in astronomical lore as the Bear Guard.

Unfortunately, Spica was far too low on the horizon for me to get a shot showing the "Spike To Spica" but if you know where to look, all you have to do is draw straight line from down and to the left of Arcturus. Spica is only about half as bright as Arcturus, but it is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo The Maiden.  

After getting the photo of the arc, I took a short drive into my nearby hometown of Chester, South Carolina, and was able to take a really good shot of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn just about the Chester City Hall building in downtown. 

The two planets will continue to shine closely together in the southern sky over the coming months. Jupiter is the largest and brightest compared to smaller Saturn beside it.

Well folks, I hope that y'all enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoy capturing them. Let me know what y'all think in the comments below. Have a wonderful Dixie evening and y'all be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies!