Spring Sky

In the northern sky, you may notice an interesting geometry like a 'dipper'. These 7 stars geometry is known as the Plough, which is a part of Ursa Major' (Great Bear). Counting from the end of the handle, the second star could be discovered as a double upon closer inspection. It is hard to tell there is 2 stars unless you have good eyesight. In ancient it was an eyesight test for the soldiers.

When you connect Dubhe and Merak with an imaginary line, and extend the line due north to about 5 times than distance between these stars, you can locate the north pole star. The pole star appears stationary in the north. It is because that the Earth's rotating axis is pointing to it. Pole star belongs to the Ursa Minor which also known as Little Dipper.

Another famous constellation in Spring is Leo. From the Plough, if you extend the imaginary line drawing from Megrez to Phad, you could easily locate the brightest star of Leo - Regulus. Leo could be easily recognised by the groups of stars resembling a large crescent or reversed question mark.

If you further extend the arc of the handle of the Plough towards the equator, you would encounter the orange star Arcturus in Bootes, or Herdsman. Bootes shaped like a kite in the sky. In Greek myth, it is said that Bootes has a role to herd the stars around the North Pole eternally. Farther along the arc extending from Plough, below the equator, there is a bright star Spica that lies in Virgo. Virgo is often represented as a "maiden" (as its name indicates). In antiquity, she may have been Isis, the Egyptian protectress of the living and the dead and the principal mother goddess. In fact, stars of Virgo and Bootes are scattered and fainter, which is relatively harder to find.

The three bright stars Regulus, Arcturus and Spica form a prominent Trangle in the sky, and it is known as the "Spring Triangle".

Spring Sky

In the northern sky, you may notice an interesting geometry like a 'dipper'. These 7 stars geometry is known as the Plough, which is a part of Ursa Major' (Great Bear). Counting from the end of the handle, the second star could be discovered as a double upon closer inspection. It is hard to tell there is 2 stars unless you have good eyesight. In ancient it was an eyesight test for the soldiers.

When you connect Dubhe and Merak with an imaginary line, and extend the line due north to about 5 times than distance between these stars, you can locate the north pole star. The pole star appears stationary in the north. It is because that the Earth's rotating axis is pointing to it. Pole star belongs to the Ursa Minor which also known as Little Dipper.

Another famous constellation in Spring is Leo. From the Plough, if you extend the imaginary line drawing from Megrez to Phad, you could easily locate the brightest star of Leo - Regulus. Leo could be easily recognised by the groups of stars resembling a large crescent or reversed question mark.

If you further extend the arc of the handle of the Plough towards the equator, you would encounter the orange star Arcturus in Bootes, or Herdsman. Bootes shaped like a kite in the sky. In Greek myth, it is said that Bootes has a role to herd the stars around the North Pole eternally. Farther along the arc extending from Plough, below the equator, there is a bright star Spica that lies in Virgo. Virgo is often represented as a "maiden" (as its name indicates). In antiquity, she may have been Isis, the Egyptian protectress of the living and the dead and the principal mother goddess. In fact, stars of Virgo and Bootes are scattered and fainter, which is relatively harder to find.

The three bright stars Regulus, Arcturus and Spica form a prominent Trangle in the sky, and it is known as the "Spring Triangle".