Only Sirius and Canopus, far to the south, are brighter.Īrcturus is bright in our sky for two reasons, first because it is relatively close to us, 38 light years away, and secondly because it is inherently a bright star, much brighter than our Sun. This is Arcturus, the third brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest star in the northern sky. The stars that form the Dipper’s handle fall in a gentle arc, and if you project that arc away from the Dipper’s bowl, you come to a bright star. Start, as I did, with the Big Dipper, high overhead as the sky gets dark at this time of year. This same technique, known as "starhopping" is the key to discovering all the wonders hidden amongst the stars. The trick to learning the constellations is to begin with the stars you know, and use them to identify their neighbors.
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