As the earth continues its orbit of the sun, the constellations of Spring slowly give way to those of Summer. With each day, excitement grows with anticipation because summer is an awesome time for stargazing!
Why, you ask, is summer so good? It's because the bright center of our Milky Way Galaxy comes into view bringing with it an incredible assortment of stars, nebulas and clusters. From a dark site, look to the south for the bright heart of the Milky Way and look upwards and to the north for its glowing, extending arm. Scattered throughout are countless gems for stargazers.
In addition, the ecliptic -- the apparent path of the planets in our sky -- stretches from east to west across the southern sky and often reveals Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus depending on the year.
OK -- let's get started.... face south and look for the two brightest stars Arcturus and Vega. Arcturus leads the way and is always west (to the right) of Vega. Vega is higher and passes overhead each summer night in the Starry Hill region. Be careful to not confuse these stars with planets -- if Venus or Jupiter are out, they will be brighter.
After finding Vega, look for the other two stars that, with Vega, form the much-loved Summer Triangle: Altair and Deneb. Vega and Altair are bright because they are close at 25 and 17 light years away. But Deneb, at possibly 3,000 light years away, is bright only because of its incredible size and luminosity. Wow!
Now look low in the southern sky below the Summer Triangle for a very red giant star, Antares. It represents the heart of the scorpion.
There is so much to explore in the summer sky. Fortunately, the warm nights of summer make it easier. Unfortunately, it doesn't get dark until late due to our high latitude, far from the equator. Oh well. Be sure to explore the links below -- there is so much fun to be had!
Viewing Constellations of Summer
Level
Easy
Rating
Best Viewing
Summer
Find
To start, face S and look up to find the the bright stars Arcturus and Vega. Then find the Summer Triangle. Look low for Antares. Be sure to check out the Solar System section of our Star Guide for info on planets that are out.
Try drawing the constellations with brighter stars, constellation lines and labels.
