Hey, Where Did the Big Dipper Go?

Notice a familiar star pattern missing these late fall nights? How about the Big Dipper. It's still there for some of us but you might just need to stand on your tippy toes to see it. For observers like myself who live in the northern U.S....

Big Dipper over lake Bob King_FEA — Bob King

November 18, 2019 at 5:22 PM

Circumpolar constellations Minneapolis_S — On this map we're facing north from Minneapolis in mid-November around 8:30 p.m. The blue circle includes all stars equal to or less than the city's latitude. Every star within that circle is circumpolar, meaning it never sets for that latitude. The radius of the circle is shown in red. The meridian (green) cuts through the scene north and south. Stellarium with additions by the author

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