Each day, the earth travels 1.6 million miles further in its journey around the sun. Each night, the stars reveal this motion by appearing 1° further west than the night before -- a finger width at arm's length. Slowly, night after night, the constellations of Summer move westward as the constellations of Fall appear higher and higher above the eastern horizon.
Although this westward motion continues throughout the year, there's something unique about it in Fall: since the sun sets earlier each day throughout Fall, we can begin stargazing earlier each evening and this causes the wonderful constellations of Summer to seem to hang around high in the sky through much of Fall. So we get both Summer and Fall constellations... how cool is that?
In comparison with Summer constellations, Fall constellations have fewer bright stars, less of the Milky Way's brighter regions and fewer of the clusters and nebulas that come with it. But Fall has some tantalizing targets: the Square of Pegasus, the famous constellation Cassiopeia, the great Andromeda Galaxy, the very loved Double Cluster, the hilarious Owl Cluster, the 'demon star' Algol and more.
In addition, the ecliptic -- the apparent path of the sun, moon and planets -- arcs across the lower constellations of Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces and Aries. For the next several years, both Uranus and Neptune can be spotted along its path but, for these, you'll need optical aid.
Because of the long, relatively warm nights and exotic targets, stargazers love Fall. Be sure to explore the links below -- there is so much delight that awaits the Fall stargazer! Be sure to also check out the Summer constellations if you don't already know them.
Viewing Constellations of Fall
Level
Easy
Rating
Best Viewing
Fall
Find
Look to the NE for the famous 'w' that forms the constellation Cassiopeia. Then turn toward the SE and look for the four stars that make up the large, tilted Square of Pegasus. Use Cassiopeia and Pegasus as the jumping off points to find all the rest.
Try drawing the constellations with brighter stars, constellation lines and labels.
