Night Sky

Constellations of Spring

With the vernal (Spring) equinox having taken place this week (Monday, March 20, at 2:24 p.m. PDT), we did a little research to see what constellations will be most prominent in the northern hemisphere during the next three months. As it happens, Ursa Major, Boötes, Leo, Cancer, Virgo and Hydra all make the cut.

Ursa Major, Virgo, and Hydra, the three largest constellations in the sky, each measuring more than 1,200 square degrees (degrees are a measure the parts of a circle, square degrees measure the parts of a sphere), form a rough semi-circle starting with the Big Dipper, going through Bootes (whose brightest star is Arcturus), Virgo (where Spica dominates), into Hydra (a long series of minor (small) stars snaking across the sky). Just above the head of Hydra, observers can spot Cancer (the Crab), a poorly defined constellation containing only rather faint stars. Slightly east of Cancer, look for a pattern of stars resembling a backwards question mark and you will find Leo (the Lion), a constellation containing Regulus, the 21st-brightest star in the night sky at the handle of a group of stars forming the Lion's head and an asterism known as "The Sickle".