Favorite constellation?

Orion. It's like imprinted in my memory or something can't look up without
seeing it

My list:

1) Orion - this was the first one I looked at with my
first real scope;

2) Sagittarius - mainly because it looks funny, but also
because there is a lot of stuff to find there;

3) Lyra - my favorite variable star, Beta Lyr is there;
Last year almost every clear night I looked at Beta
Lyrae to chart the variation;

4) Delphinus - A year ago at Fremont Peak for first time
I saw Pluto; it was next to an asterism that looked
like Delphinus - since then Delphinus just pops-out from
the sky. Mojo, I saw your posting in this thread - say
"hello" to Jane - she showed us Pluto through her scope
that evening, :-)

- Alex

My list:

1) Orion - this was the first one I looked at with my
first real scope;

2) Sagittarius - mainly because it looks funny, but also
because there is a lot of stuff to find there;

3) Lyra - my favorite variable star, Beta Lyr is there;
Last year almost every clear night I looked at Beta
Lyrae to chart the variation;

4) Delphinus - A year ago at Fremont Peak for first time
I saw Pluto; it was next to an asterism that looked
like Delphinus - since then Delphinus just pops-out from
the sky. Mojo, I saw your posting in this thread - say
"hello" to Jane - she showed us Pluto through her scope
that evening, :-)

- Alex

scroob wrote in message ...

Mine are Scorpius and Sagittarius.

Scorpius is great; definitely my second favorite. It might even be
my favorite if I lived in a place where I could routinely see the
whole thing high in the sky.

Sgittarius, somehow, has never really worked for me. Obviously,
the DSOs inside it are second to none, but the star pattern doesn't
really grab me. How excited can you get about a Teapot? That is
what Sagittarius means in Latin, isn't it?

Orion, of course, is number one. Great shape, great stars, great
DSOs, visible from all over the world -- it has it all.

Cygnus might be number three. I love the Northern Cross, and the
way the Cygnus Star Cloud blends with it. And the fact that it
stays nearly overhead more or less forever at my latitude sure
doesn't hurt!

Cassiopeia is pretty great too. And while we're speaking of small
constellations, there's always Lyra and Delphinus.

- Tony Flanders

scroob wrote in message ...

Mine are Scorpius and Sagittarius.

Scorpius is great; definitely my second favorite. It might even be
my favorite if I lived in a place where I could routinely see the
whole thing high in the sky.

Sgittarius, somehow, has never really worked for me. Obviously,
the DSOs inside it are second to none, but the star pattern doesn't
really grab me. How excited can you get about a Teapot? That is
what Sagittarius means in Latin, isn't it?

Orion, of course, is number one. Great shape, great stars, great
DSOs, visible from all over the world -- it has it all.

Cygnus might be number three. I love the Northern Cross, and the
way the Cygnus Star Cloud blends with it. And the fact that it
stays nearly overhead more or less forever at my latitude sure
doesn't hurt!

Cassiopeia is pretty great too. And while we're speaking of small
constellations, there's always Lyra and Delphinus.

- Tony Flanders

Tony Flanders wrote:
Sgittarius, somehow, has never really worked for me. Obviously,
the DSOs inside it are second to none, but the star pattern doesn't
really grab me. How excited can you get about a Teapot? That is
what Sagittarius means in Latin, isn't it?

That's right. An additional hint is provided by the constellation of
Sagitta the Tealeaf.

Don't forget Camelopardalis.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Tony Flanders wrote:
Sgittarius, somehow, has never really worked for me. Obviously,
the DSOs inside it are second to none, but the star pattern doesn't
really grab me. How excited can you get about a Teapot? That is
what Sagittarius means in Latin, isn't it?

That's right. An additional hint is provided by the constellation of
Sagitta the Tealeaf.

Don't forget Camelopardalis.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Orion in the morning and Leo at midnight.

Orion ushers in the cold, and Leo chases it away.

(In between, we have too short nights, and bugs. g)

Stephen Paul
Shirley, MA

Orion in the morning and Leo at midnight.

Orion ushers in the cold, and Leo chases it away.

(In between, we have too short nights, and bugs. g)

Stephen Paul
Shirley, MA

scroob wrote in
:

Mine are Scorpius and Sagittarius. Had some fine views of both about
midnight tonight.

I remember when I was 14 and newly interested in astronomy. I had a
star map, and stayed up late every summer night learning the summer
constellations. I'll never forget the first time I saw Pegasus in the
eastern sky - I'd memorized it for weeks before I ever saw it.

I can see Pegasus rising in the east again as I type this. It took me
back. Summer just got here and the first harbinger of fall is already
creeping up. The years really do seem to go by faster as you get
older. Maybe it's because you know you are running out of them.


My top three would be Orion, Scorpius and Crux. Orion and the Southern
Cross are ones I remember learning about first as a kid.

LK.






LK.