Freelance astronomy writer
Starting at Merak, draw a line through Megrez, Alioth and Mizar and you’ll come to the constellation Hercules. It’s not especially bright and it may take you a few tries to see it. If you come to a bright, white star, that’s Vega, the brightest…
By now, the Big Dipper is low on the northern horizon, but if you draw a line through Merak and Dubhe to Polaris and continue on, you’ll come to Cassiopeia. It’s high over Polaris, and looks like a large, crooked W in the sky. Draw…
By now, the Big Dipper has moved around to the east of Polaris. Draw a line through Megrez and Merak and you’ll come to two bright stars. Known as Castor and Pollux, these are the brightest stars in the constellation Gemini, the Twins. Yet we…
Summer months may have the shortest nights, but there is still a multitude of sights to tempt you outside. From Scorpius and Sagittarius in the south to the stars of Cygnus that pass by overhead, there is plenty to see in the summer sky once…