Moving into Spring

One of the fainter constellations located in the sky this time of year is Cancer the Crab. Consisting of six moderately bright stars, one would have a difficult time searching for it in highly lit suburban skies. A great aid is first locating the main stars of Gemini the Twins namely Castor and Pollux off to the Crab’s right. Under country skies on a moonless night, the Cancer is easier to find along with its premiere object – M44, the Beehive Cluster.

Lepus the Hare

Canis Major

Most of the constellations we see can be located from moderate light-polluted skies. If you are new to astronomy, this is a good way to study the constellations which are highlighted for the most part by bright stars. Once you move to the dark countryside on a moonless night, standing under two thousand stars can be overwhelming.