December 19, 2011
Scorpius
How to Find and Identify the Zodiac Constellation Libra
Instructions
- 1Pick a dark and crystal clear night in late spring or early summer in the northern hemisphere. There are no bright stars whatsoever in this constellation, making it hard to find and identify under the best of circumstances.
- 2Find the scorpion of the skies to locate Libra. The constellation Scorpius is used as a guide to find Libra. Containing the red giant star Antares, Scorpius hangs close to the horizon and resembles a scorpion. Libra was part of Scorpius until early Roman astronomers took the “scorpion’s claws” and grouped them into the scales instead. Once you find Scorpius, look to the right of it--this is the area where Libra is.
- 3Look for a triangle of dim stars. This is the upper part of the scales that connects the two balances. It is tilted on its side with the longest side of the triangle facing Scorpius, which would be to Libra's left. Remember, the scales aren’t hanging straight down but off to the left.
- 4Imagine the two scales hanging off the triangle at an angle. The rest of Libra’s stars are even fainter than the ones that make up the triangle. They extend outward from two of the stars on the triangle’s base. There are three stars that comprise one of the scales on the upper part and two that make up the scales on the lower one.
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Libra
How to Find and Identify the Zodiac Constellation Virgo
Instructions
- 1Search for Virgo in the springtime. Wait until about 11:00 p.m. as the weather gets warmer to search for Virgo. In the northern hemisphere, it can best be seen at this time.
- 2Find the Big Dipper. This asterism, a group of stars forming a shape, is like a road map to the other constellations and Virgo is no exception. The Big Dipper will be in the direction of north as it rotates around the northern celestial pole like the hands of a clock. Determine the seven stars that form the shape of a huge ladle in the sky and follow the "handle" of the dipper in an arc out into space until you come to the brilliant star Arcturas, in Bootes the Herdsman.
- 3From Arcturus, continue the arc until you come to Spica. Spica is the 15th brightest star in the sky and by far the most luminous in all of the Vorgo constellation. Spica is a blue giant star that is over 260 light years from Earth. Spica means "ear of wheat," a reference to Virgo being portrayed as the goddess of the harvest in some cultures. It looks brighter than it actually is due to the fact that the region of the sky it occupies is devoid of any other bright stars.
- 4Imagine Virgo as a giant letter "A" laying on its side. It does not resemble a woman or a maiden in any way, shape, or form so if that's what you are expecting, you will be disappointed. Spica marks the bottom of the lower side of the "A," which is wavy in appearance.
- 5Don't strain your eyes to see the famed cluster of galaxies in Virgo. They are not visible to the naked eye nor even a good pair of binoculars. Virgo contains many interesting deep sky objects, more than any other constellation except for Sagittarius the Archer, yet you cannot discern any of them without the aid of a fine telescope. The galaxy cluster is renowned among astronomers, with up to eleven galaxies visible in a very small area of the sky.
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Virgo
Virgo is a Zodiac constellation associated with the month of September. Lying between Leo the Lion and Libra the Scales in the Zodiac, Virgo is the second largest constellation in the sky; only Hydra the long dragon is bigger in area. Despite its great size though, Virgo is not a cinch to find in the night sky. Here is how you can find and identify the constellation of Virgo the Maiden.
How to Find and Identify the Zodiac Constellation Leo
Instructions
Moderately Easy
- 1Look for Leo in the springtime. This constellation heralds the beginning of warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere. When it is about 10 p.m., the entire constellation should be over the horizon in the east and visible.
- 2Use the Big Dipper to guide you to Leo. The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major and is always in the direction of north. Find the Dipper with its seven stars that seem to form a giant ladle. The two stars that form the end of the "bowl" are called the pointers. Follow them up and you come to the North Star Polaris. Follow them down and you come to Leo the Lion. Leo is between Cancer the Crab and Virgo the Maiden in the zodiac.
- 3Search for the Sickle. The Sickle is an asterism within Leo that forms the lion's head and mane. It is a backwards question mark in the sky made up of enough bright stars to be easily recognizable. The Sickle is dotted underneath by the first magnitude star Regulus. The name means "little king" and it is actually a double star system that can be seen with your binoculars.
- 4Look behind him for the tail. The back half of Leo is composed of a triangle of stars that form his haunches. The brightest star of this trio is Denebola, which means "tail of the lion." Denebola is Leo's second most brilliant star as seen from earth, 36 light years away. It is 10 times brighter than the sun.
- 5Be ready for the Leonid meteor storm in the fall. This sometimes wildly spectacular meteor shower seems to radiate from Leo. It reaches its peak on November 17 and in the past has literally made people think the world was coming to an end, as there were hundreds of meteors a minute. The Leonids have rarely lived up to those shows since, but are still worth seeing late at night in the autumn.
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Leo
Leo the Lion is a zodiac constellation that looks as much like what it is supposed to be as any star grouping named by the ancients. This doesn't mean that it is the most apparent object in the night sky, but once you find where it is you will definitely see a lion without using too much imagination. One of the easiest to visualize asterisms, or stars that form a familiar shape, lies within Leo, as well as a couple of bright stars that have names.
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