Spring triangle

The spring triangle in May 2017 with Jupiter and "by chance" the moon next to it in Virgo as well as adjacent constellations; the dashed lines indicate how to get from the drawbar of the Big Dipper (above) to Arctur and Spica and from the Dipper to Regulus.

The spring triangle is a large-scale figure of conspicuous stars that mark the night sky in the area north and south of the celestial equator in the spring months in the northern hemisphere . In the southern hemisphere these are the autumn months . Due to their greater brightness , these stars can often still be seen under conditions that are restricted by the atmosphere and light pollution . It is not a constellation established by the International Astronomical Union , but an asterism , which in this case consists of three stars, each of which is assigned to different constellations.

The spring triangle is formed from the following stars (starting west, clockwise ):

Regulus in the constellation Leo
Spica in the constellation Virgo
Arcture in the constellation Bearkeeper

visibility

The complete spring triangle can be observed from anywhere on earth between about 70 ° north and 60 ° south latitude and is highest in the night sky at midnight in mid-March . Depending on the latitude of the location, it is visible from November at the earliest, shortly before sunrise over the eastern horizon , and until July at the latest, shortly after sunset in a westerly direction. The rest of the time, however, it remains partially or entirely hidden, as the stars are outshone by daylight . In mid-September the sun is within the southern area of the spring triangle between Regulus and Spica. There the ecliptic, on which the sun seems to move in an easterly direction during the year , runs from north to south through the autumn point .

Spring triangle

visibility

See also