Arcturus

chart

Boötes_IAU.svg (Wikimedia Commons)

location guide

By following the curve of the handle from Alioth (ε) to Mizar (ζ) to Alkaid (η), one reaches Arcturus (α Boötis) and Spica (α Virginis). A mnemonic for this is “Arc to Arcturus then speed (or spike) to Spica.”

mention

Powers of Ten

observation

random

star of

Boötes

STARS by Jim Kaler

Arcturus (stars.astro.illinois.edu) ARCTURUS (Alpha Bootis). Among the very brightest of stars, shining with a soft orange light, Arcturus lights northern spring skies.

tags

Wikipedia

Arcturus (Wikipedia) Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Boötes. With an apparent visual magnitude of −0.05, it is the fourth-brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere. The name Arcturus originated from ancient Greece; it was then cataloged as α Boötis by Johann Bayer in 1603, which is Latinized to Alpha Boötis. Arcturus forms one corner of the Spring Triangle asterism.