All eyes are on the summer triangle and their bright stars, but in an area of the night sky bounded by Cygnus, Aquila, and Pegasus are four little constellations easily overlooked for the bigger and more glamorous ones that surround them. None of the four, Vulpecula, Sagitta, Delphinus, and Equuleus have stars brighter than magnitude 4 or 5. However they are all good binocular and small scope friendly, and they all have something unique about them.
Vulpecula, the little fox, has the distinction of being the last on the alphabetical list of constellations. It’s stars range from mag. 4.5 to 5, and you need a dark sky to find it. It contains M27, the Dumbell Nebula. M 27 is a mag 7.3, an easy target for a small scope. It is listed as a binocular object in " Binocular Stargazing" by Mike D. Reynolds. It is a planetary nebula, like the Ring Nebula, but it is only around 1000 light years away.
The arrow, Sagitta, looks like an arrow, the question is whose? One legend says Hercules, the other says Sagitta is the arrow of Sagittarius. Since the arrow hit neither the swan or the eagle, they probably aren’t talking. Sagitta has a globular cluster M 71. Another group of stars to look for within the boundries of Vulpecula and Sagitta lies the asterism called the Coat Hanger.
Delphinus, the dolphin, is also one of the constellations that resemble what it is supposed to represent. It’s two brightest stars, Sualocin and Rotanev, appear as named stars for the first time in a star catalog compiled by the Palermo Observatory in 1814. The names never made sense. They weren’t Greek or Latin, or Arabic, and were a mystery until some one realized that they were the Latinized name of Nicolaus Venator, an astronomer at the Palermo Observatory, reversed.
Last of the four is Equuleus, the lesser horse, usually shown as a sea horse. It has the distinction of being the smallest constellation in the northern hemisphere. Little Equuleus isn’t far from the bright star, Enif, which marks the flying horse’s nose. Between Enif and Equuleus you can find M15, a fine globular cluster. Depending on what star chart you use, the little horse is four to six stars. Sorry Scrabble players, you can’t use proper names.
This month look for:
Sept. 01 Low in the west at sunset look for Venus, Mercury and Mars just above the crescent Moon.
05-15 The three planets Venus, Mercury, and Mars stay within 4 deg of one another - use of binoculars.
07 First quarter Moon.
Tonight 7:12 to 7:38 CDT Io and Gannymede cast simultaneous shadows on Jupiter.
Jupiter also begins to move eastward.
11 Venus passes Mars just above and within 1/3 of a deg.
12 Uranus at opposition to the Sun tonight.
15 Full Moon.
19 Watch for Venus, Mercury, Mars and Spica in a tight group in the west at sunset.
The Moon will pass through the Pleiades.
22 Fall begins in the northern hemisphere.
Last Quarter Moon.
24 Jupiter will look as if it has 5 moons tonight. It is a 5.9 mag star that looks out of place.
26-27 The Moon will pass Regulus, then the next night Saturn.
29 New Moon.
