The first thing I saw whan I walked outside for the dogs walk was a huge triangle in the sky. I said to myself’ “I never noticed THAT before!” . The triangle was formed by three stars, one, which I already knew, was Pollux, as in Castor and Pollux, as in the Twins, AKA the constellation Gemini. The other two I had to look up. Number two was Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation Cannis Minor, the Little Dog. And the third, wasn’t a star, it was the planet Saturn. That’s why I never saw that triangle before, because Saturn moves rapidly in relation to the stars and probably as soon as tomorrow or certainly next week, my triangle will be gone. But this morning, it was a perfect triangle of bright stars in a lightening sky. Pointing east.
I always see triangles in the sky, I don’t really know why. I can recognize a triangle by the difference in the three angles and they always seem to jump out at me. When stargazing, I start with a known constellation, then I jump from triangle to triangle to find the constellation I am looking for. I’m not always looking for three bright stars either, sometimes its three that are of the same magnitude (brightness) in a group of brighter stars. For example, Centaurs neck has a triangle of three dim stars in it. Centaur is a very complex constellation. At the astronomy meetings, they sometimes ask me where a certian constellation is. It makes me feel good. They are all much better astronomers than I, with telescopes and knowledge. I just can find the constellations. (I always look at a map before I go, to be familiar in advance)
Sometimes I look up an don’t recognize a thing.
I picked a star as my favorite when I was a little boy. I could always find it by its triangle, and it was red. I didn’t know at the time, but the constellation was Orion, the the red star I picked was Betelgeuse. You can find its triangle if you look.
(I am using red text so it doesn’t destroy your night vision.)
Laying in bed this morning, I decided I wasn’t going to post today. I didn’t have anything to say. Then I saw that triangle…
That’s very cool. Orion is one of my favorite constellations; probably because it’s the easiest to find and one of the first I learned. Here in the city I never have a good view of the stars, not unless I head out to the farm/lake. I assume it’s pretty good where you are?I don’t understand why triangles stand out so much for you, but whatever works right? I usually start at the big dipper and then find everything in reference to its position.
That’s because you’re up there in Canada, here the big dipper disappears near the horizon. Polaris is only 19.2 degrees up!
Astronomy always fascinated me. I don’t know much beyond the big and little dippers. I was thrilled when I learned that stars don’t blink…it’s the space junk floating round that makes them appear to blink. Hey, check out my word verification: losfoxty
I love stargazing, but I don’t get to see much where I live. Too much light. I remember seeing the Milky Way when I was a little girl. That memory has stayed with me all these years.I think it’s great that you know so much about the constellations. Very cool.