Guide to the Autumn Constellations Northern Hemisphere Night Sky
A Guide to the Autumn Constellations Northern Hemisphere Night Sky
Guide to the Autumn Constellations Northern Hemisphere Night Sky
This is a short guide to the Autumn Constellations. Illustrations are from the upcoming book coming soon to TelescopesAstronomy.com and AstronomyForum.net - copyright 2011.
The Autumn Stars - Pointers to Find your Way Around All Season Long
The Major Autumn stars
In front of the open bowl and the handle of the Small Dipper you can imagine and see in the autumn night sky, a large triangle formed by the three very bright and easily found first magnitude stars: Vega, Altair, and Deneb.
Vega, or Alpha Lyrae, is a very brilliant white star on the edge of the milky way nearest to the Dipper. Altair, the brightest star of the Eagle, also white, is on the further edge of the milky way and has two stars near to it, one on each side. Deneb, of Cygnus, The Swan, is in the milky way and is not so bright as the others. It can be recognized because it is at the top of a large and symmetrical cross. Cygnus also makes a good swan flying towards the Eagle, with outstretched neck and wings ; Deneb being in its tail.
From here we can find the three first constellations we will study of the Autumn sky, Lyra, Aquila and Cygnus.
Lyra, the Lyre the Constellation's Myth
This is the lyre of the great musician, Orpheus, presented to him by Apollo. So en chanting was the music of Orpheus that the rivers ceased to flow and the wild beasts and mountains came to listen. The nvmph, Eurydice, was charmed by his music ; he fell in love with her and they were married. But their happiness was short-lived. A serpent bit her foot and she died. Orpheus then resolved to enter the lower regions to recover his bride. He took his harp with him, and so ravishing was his music that the wheel of Ixion stopped, the stone of Sisyphus stood still and Tantalus forgot his thirst. Pluto and his wife Proserpine were so charmed that they promised to restore Eurydice on the condition that Orpheus would not look back while passing out. He agreed, but as he was nearing the regions of the upper air his desire to see his long-lost bride, who was following and whom he had not yet seen, overcame him. He looked back and saw her, but she instantly vanished, and he never saw her again. He wandered aimlessly about the earth after his death, When his Lyre was placed in the sky.
A Visual Guide to Lyra
Th
e Lyre is just east of Hercules and passes the meridian at 9 p. m., about the middle of August. It is noted for its one beautiful silver star, Vega, the reigning king of the night sky, since the passing of Arcturus. There are about five other stars easily visible in Lyra. Three of them are just east of Vega and form a triangle. The other two are a little further south and also east of Vega, the six forming a figure resembling a Lyre which is an instrument still used in Crete. One of these dim stars is a double one and another is variable.
