It’ll be at about the same altitude (that is, the same height off the ground) as Altair and will set around the same time.įomalhaut is a fairly young system about 25 light-years away. But when you see it, there’s no doubt: It’s the only bright star in what’s an otherwise humble and quiet part of the sky. Without any other even moderately bright stars nearby to act as signposts, it can be tough to spot, so be patient. Fomalhaut will be the next bright star you come to. Once you’ve found Altair in the last of the glowing twilight, turn to the south, toward your left. The farther north you are, the closer to the horizon it is. Fomalhaut never rises more than about 20 degrees above the horizon from mid-northern latitudes. The southernmost first-magnitude star visible in the north is Fomalhaut, whose name comes from Arabic and means “the mouth of the whale.” Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, not to be confused with Pisces the directionally agnostic fish, is a dim and sparse constellation that can be tough to see because our view of it puts it low in the southern sky. While we’re still looking westward, after we’ve found those first three stars, it’s a quick hop to the fourth. (Light from the star itself has been blocked out to see its surroundings better.) Fomalhaut b is one of the few worlds for which we have a direct image. If you’re fortunate enough to live under good, dark skies, away from light pollution, you might also be able to make out the Milky Way’s glow cutting right through the center of the Triangle and then up overhead. Altair sets around 7:30, with Vega and Deneb not too far behind. These stars are all wonderful in the summer, but there’s something special about seeing them in the dusky early evening sky in the winter, and letting your mind wander back to hot dogs, baseball games, and trips to the beach. If it’s so bright from its current distance, imagine what it must be like much closer to it. It’s dimmer than the other two stars, but even from so far, it’s still very bright. Estimates suggest that the light we see now has been traveling toward us for about 2,000 years. It’s an old, giant star whose exact distance is a little tough to pin down. But Deneb, which forms the Swan’s tail, is one of the most distant stars we can see with the unaided eye. As the New Year’s festivities start, we’ll see the Swan and Eagle gliding into the dusk, chasing after the Sun.Īltair and Vega are among the closest stars to us, only about 17 and 25 light-years away, respectively. Let’s start our tour with them, looking toward the western horizon after sunset just as the skies start to dim. But - believe it or not - the Summer Triangle’s stars are still in winter evening skies too. In August, the constellations Cygnus, the Swan, and Aquila, the Eagle soared high overhead, lighting up those sweltering skies with Lyra, the Lyre, between them. The last time most of us thought about the Summer Triangle, it was popping into the sky over the eastern horizon after a long, slow, summer sunset. It’s fun to make the most of the long nights around the winter solstice for a tour of the skies’ brightest lights. They’re all above the horizon at some point between sunset December 31st and sunrise January 1st, New Year’s Morning.
One of my favorite holiday traditions is taking a break from the rush to spend time with some friends on New Year’s Eve: the 15 stars visible from mid-northern latitudes, figure around 40 degrees north, that are first magnitude or brighter. Thanks for taking some time to stop by Sky & Telescope’s tour of some of the sky’s brightest stars. To start exploring, first pause the video, then click and drag the view to other parts of the sky, or zoom in and out of your current view using your mouse (or two fingers if on a mobile device). Note: This video is interactive! Besides the usual video controls, you can also use this as a window on the night sky.
Get the New Year off to a good start by coming along with Scott Levine and the Worldwide Telescope on our interactive video tour!Ĭannot display WorldWide Telescope because your browser does not support iframes. Every year around the winter solstice, all 15 of the northern night sky’s brightest stars – those first-magnitude and brighter – are above the horizon and visible sometime between sunset and sunrise.
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