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 Seneca Indian legend 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.
Thursday:
Near 1 o’clock tomorrow morning, night owls should look to the east-southeast, where a waning Gibbous Moon rises well to the right of our distant planetary cousin Saturn. They remain low as they climb into the southeast by 4 o’clock, as the twilight signals the end of our short night. Well to the left and even lower in the east, Jupiter returns to view for early risers.
Friday:
High in the south is brilliant star Arcturus, discovered by Sir Edmund Halley (of comet fame), to have changed its position since ancient times. This demonstrated that all stars are in motion around the center of our galaxy, though at distances so great, that the constellations look the same for thousands of years.