March Constellations

The eight March constellations include many notable groups the most famous of which
is Cancer, the crab. Cancer is home to two Messier objects, both open star clusters.
The remainders of objects worth noting are found in the constellation Puppis. Puppis
contains three Messier open star clusters. Most of the remaining groups were once part
of a larger constellation called Argo Navis, which was the ship sailed by Jason and the
Argonauts as they searched for the golden fleece. This large constellation was
eventually split into four parts and the resulting groups are named after parts of the ship.

June Constellations
The five June constellations include such popular groups as Botes, the bear driver,
Libra, the scales, and Ursa Minor, the little bear. Ursa Minor is home to two of the most
well known objects in the night sky: the Little Dipper and Polaris, the North Star. Polaris
is actually located in the tip of the handle of the little dipper and marks the north celestial
pole, the point in the sky around which all of the stars appear to circle in the northern
hemisphere. There are no Messier objects to be found in these constellations, but
Botes does contain a few notable stars, including Arcturis, a red-giant star which is the
4th brightest star in the sky.

September Constellations
The ten September constellations contain several notable groups such as Aquila, the
eagle, Capricornus, the sea goat, and Cygnus, the swan. There are only a few notable
deep sky objects found in these constellations. The famous Dumbbell Nebula is located
in Vulpecula. This planetary nebula was formed when a star shed its outer layer of gas.
The name comes from its unmistakable hourglass shape, which resembles a weight
lifter's dumbbell. The rest of the objects are star clusters. Capricornus and Sagitta each
contain a globular cluster while Cygnus contains two open clusters. A few interesting
bright stars can be found in the September sky. Aquila is the home of Altair, the 11th
brightest star in the sky. Deneb, located in Cygnus, is part of a visual formation known
as the Summer Triangle.

December Constellations
The eight December constellations include such notable groups as Aries, the ram,
Eridanis, the river, and Perseus, the hero. A beautiful spiral galaxy known as the
Triangulum can be found in the constellation Triangulum. It is a nearly face-on galaxy
with very well defined spiral arms. Other notable objects in the December skies include
a small planetary nebula and open star cluster in Perseus and a large spiral galaxy in
Cetus. There are no notable bright stars in these constellations worth mentioning. Most
of the stars are dimmer than 2nd magnitude.