Today:
The Big Dipper is beginning to drop a little into the northwestern skies from its position at the top of the sky in May. A legend from the Seneca Tribe tells us that the bowl of the dipper is really a bear, with the closest star to the bowl a hunter with a bow and arrow. The middle star is a hunter with a cooking pot, and the third star is another hunter, gathering firewood to cook with.
Tuesday:
Draco, the Dragon is not as well known as its neighbors – the Big and Little Dippers, or Big and Little Bears – but it is a beautiful pattern to find in the sky. Look between the two Dippers to see a thin line of faint stars that hooks half-way around the Little Dipper, then curves the other way, topped off with a diamond-shaped head.
Wednesday:
With no Moonlight to compete with tonight, the two brightest stars in our summer skies – Arcturus, high in the south, and Vega, high in the east – guide you to a much fainter star group, Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. Look one third of the way from Arcturus toward Vega, and you will see a faint semi-circle of stars, with a brighter one in the middle. This is Gemma, the jewel in the crown.