Page 77 - All About Space 68 - 2017 UK

STARGAZER
Naked eye targets

This month’s naked eye targets

Mid-to-late summer brings a feast of constellations

and objects to keep you coming back for more

Deneb (Alpha Cygni)
The brightest star in the constellation
of Cygnus (the Swan), is a hugely
bright blue-white supergiant,
dazzling at a magnitude of 1.25.
Forming one vertex of the Summer
Triangle asterism, it’s easy to locate
as it’s at a reasonable declination in
the sky during the summer evenings.

Hercules

Cygnus Lyra

Sagitta
Often confused with Sagittarius
(the Archer), Sagitta, which
represents the Arrow, is quite a dim
constellation since it contains stars
no brighter than third magnitude.
Orion Arm Sagitta occupies the third-smallest Ophiuchus
This is the best time of year to see region of sky of all 48 constellations.
the Orion Arm, a minor spiral arm of
our own home galaxy, the Milky Way. Vulpecula
A dark sky site will make viewing the
stars a much easier task, with this
dusting of stars immediately visible
through the constellations of Cygnus,
Vulpecula, Sagitta and Aquila.
Sagitta The Scutum Star Cloud
Looking like a brighter patch
of the Milky Way, the Scutum
Star Cloud is a treat through
Delphinus binoculars with a magnification
Equuleus of at least 10x50. It rests close to
the Wild Duck Cluster (Messier
11), and is visible to the unaided
eye on a clear summer evening.
Altair (Alpha Aquilae)
Along with Deneb and Vega, Serpens
Altair — also known as Alpha
Aquilae — is the third star of the
Summer Triangle, and shines at
magnitude 0.77. Being an A-type
main-sequence star, it bears a
blue-white hue to the unaided
eye or through binoculars.

Aquila

Scutum

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