Week of September 7-13, 2025
As the greens of summer gradually give way to the reds and browns of autumn, the night sky is undergoing its own seasonal changes. In the eastern sky at dusk, the autumn stars prepare to take center stage, while the springtime stars slip silently off to the west.
One of the most recognizable springtime star groupings descending in the west is the Big Dipper. If you've managed to miss it during this spring and summer, you can still catch it low in the northwestern sky.
If you've been reading my column for a while, you know that the shape of its bowl is outlined by four equally bright stars, and its bent handle is formed by three more. It's quite handy, too, as its two "pointer" stars — those that are farthest from the handle — direct one's gaze right toward Polaris (aka, the North Star).
This "star-hopping" technique is possible not only from the Dipper's two pointer stars but also from those making up its handle. Follow them away from the bowl, and you'll soon find yourself looking at the bright star Arcturus.
Arcturus is one of my favorite stars of springtime. Not only is it the fourth brightest star in the heavens, it's also the most brilliant north of the celestial equator, and it's the main star of the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman.
This star is a red giant about 25 times larger, and about 170 times more luminous, than our sun, and lies about 217 trillion miles, or 37 lightyears, from us. This means that the beautiful yellow-orange light entering our eyes tonight left that star in 1988.
Finding a herdsman among these stars is an impossible task, but seeing the outline of a kite isn't too tough. Arcturus marks its base where a tail streams nicely off the lower left edge. Or, if the night is particularly warm, you might imagine it as an ice cream cone lying on its side, with Arcturus at its pointy base and a single scoop outlined by the stars on its upper right.
Just above Arcturus and Bootes on these late summer nights, you'll find a delicate little star grouping known as Corona Borealis, the northern crown. In Greek mythology, Corona Borealis represents the jeweled crown, or wreath, worn by Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, when she wed Bacchus. Another story suggests that its stars represent a braid of golden twine. To me, however, it represents a second dip of ice cream that fell off the cone!
Corona Borealis is one of the smallest constellations in the heavens; in fact, it ranks 72nd out of 88 constellations, and its brightest star — Alphecca — isn't terribly bright at all, fainter than even the north star.
There was one star in Corona Borealis that made the news recently. You may recall that I've written about a star in this grouping called T Corona Borealis, or the "Blaze Star" as it's also known, that was expected to brighten significantly as a nova and change the appearance of this constellation for a few days.
If you've been watching and think you've missed it, don't despair. We're all still waiting!
Visit Dennis Mammana at dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at creators.com.
Once you spot the Big Dipper in the night sky, it's easy to direct your gaze toward the bright star Arcturus. Photo courtesy of Dennis Mammana.
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