Constellations

[doris]

Hi all,
I was observing the night sky for the past few weeks and managed to observe Scorpius, Sagitarrius, Cygnus and the Summer Triangle. However, I am very unsure about which 3 stars exactly form the Summer Triangle and would like to ask whether there's any way to ascertain that I am looking at the right one. Also, I would like to ask whether there are any other constellations that I can see and where I can best view them from. Is there any specific timing to see a particular constellation?
Thanks!

[weixing]

Hi,

However, I am very unsure about which 3 stars exactly form the Summer Triangle and would like to ask whether there's any way to ascertain that I am looking at the right one.

The three stars are Altair in Aquila, Deneb in Cygnus, and Vega in Lyra.

Basically, when you go out these few night at 9pm and face north. Look straight up overhead and you'll see a bright and a dimmer star close together... the bright star is Altair. Now imagine a line start from Altair (the bright star) through the dimmer star and extend towards the north and you'll see a bright star in North-West direction... that's Vega. To the east of Vega, you'll see the another bright star, that's Deneb.

Also, I would like to ask whether there are any other constellations that I can see and where I can best view them from. Is there any specific timing to see a particular constellation?

Most constellation book will indicate a best view time when the constellation is highest in the sky at a convenient time (eg. 10pm). For example, the best view time for Scorpius is June to July at 10pm when it reach the highest in the sky at that time.

Have a nice day.

[Sam Lee]

Hi Doris,

You can try the Stellarium software at http://www.stellarium.org
This is not the regular complex star charts.

Get it installed, set your location to Singapore and the time to local time.
It will then show you the stars with relative to the ground and direction.
Try it and you'll know !

Regards,
Sam