Monday 12th to Sunday 18th June 2023
Constellations are groups of easily-visible stars that form an obvious pattern, typically resembling an ancient mythological animal or object. In 1922 the International Astronomical Union officially recognised a list of 88 different constellations. It is important to appreciate though that a particular constellation actually covers a whole area of the sky. For example, the constellation of Ursa Major includes numerous stars and even some Messier deep sky objects within a portion of the night sky.
Asterisms are specific patterns of stars that may be within a constellation. Inside the constellation of Ursa Major is the asterism known as the Big Dipper - the seven bright stars that make up the familiar "saucepan" shape.
Another popular and very large asterism is known as the "Summer Triangle" and it is made up from three bright stars in three different constellations: Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus, Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila.
Try going outside just after dark next week and look towards the east - see if you can make out the Summer Triangle yourself. From a dark location you may notice a patch of faint cloud running through the triangle - the Met. Office haven't got it wrong - you are seeing the billions of faint stars that make up the centre of our Milky Way galaxy!
This time of year is not great for astronomy because there isn't much real darkness. On the morning of Saturday 17th we have the earliest sunrise of 2023 which will be at 4.38am. That's not to be confused with the summer solstice when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky - that takes place the following week, on Wednesday 21st.
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2023
www.starsoversomerset.com
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