October

Andromeda contains one corner of the Great Square of Pegasus (the star Alpheratz). Andromeda’s dress flows outward from the corner along three pairs of stars, with each pair slightly farther apart than the previous pair. Perhaps she is petting Pegasus, who bore the hero Perseus across the ocean on his mighty wings to save her from the sea monster Cetus.

Water jar pattern near Pegasus.

A small zodiac constellation with only two easily visible stars.

Trace an imaginary line from the Big Bear’s pointers on past Polaris. At an equal distance on the opposite side from the Big Dipper is Cassiopeia (KASS-ee-oh-PAY-uh), an ancient Queen of Ethiopia.

As she sits on her W-shaped throne she circles round and round the pole. Like the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia is circumpolar and therefore visible no matter what the season or time of night. In the fall Cassiopeia is in the shape of a W and in the Spring she is in the shape of a M.

The Ethiopian king, Cepheus (SEE-fee-us), is a circumpolar constellation that sits atop the Milky Way on a throne near his queen Cassiopeia. The legs and seat of his throne make a rough square on the Ursa Major side of Cassiopeia. Cepheus looks like a house (or throne) sitting on the Milky Way. The back of the seat comes to a point at the top above his head.

South of Aries and Pisces, one of the largest constellations. Trace to the second-magnitude star Beta-Ceti (Diphda, near the flukes) by following a line southward from Alpheratz (the corner of Pegasus and Andromeda) through gamma-Pegasi, across Pisces and Cetus.

A small constellation of faint stars nestled within a bend of the river (Eridanus), low in the south.

Partially visible low in the south in August and September from 35 degrees north latitude.

Hydrus has only three stars above the fourth magnitude.Hydrus is the Little Snake, not to be confused with Hydra, the big one.

Between Cepheus and Pegasus; no bright stars, but within the Milky Way.