How to spot Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn etc and the annual Perseid meteor shower. Tonight, notice the 2 outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper – Dubhe and Merak. They always point to Polaris, the North Star. To find the Dipper at this time of year, look toward the NW in the evening. Once you’ve found it – after locating Polaris – look more carefully at the second star from the end of the Big Dipper’s handle. If your sky is dark enough, and your eyesight is good, you’ll see that this star, Mizar, has a nearby companion, called Alcor.
Arabian stargazers referred to Mizar and Alcor as the “horse and rider.” These stars are a good test of the night’s viewing conditions: if you can’t see Alcor, there might be thin clouds up there.
These two stars are what’s ...
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