The Summer Triangle is a set of three stars visible in the summer night sky in the northern hemisphere. It is made up of the stars Altair , Deneb and Vega , all of them of the first magnitude , connecting the constellations of the Eagle, the Swan and the Lyre, respectively, in a clockwise direction.
Asterism was traced in the late 1920s by astronomer Owald Thomas who referred to these stars as the Great Triangle and in 1934 it was renamed the Summer Triangle.
Summary
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- 1 Concept
- 2 Visibility
- 3 Features
- 4 See also
- 5 Sources
Concept
The Summer Triangle is an Astronomical figure, pseudo-constellation or asterism, that is, a set of three stars not recognized as a constellation, but which form a figure, in this case an imaginary triangle, very well defined and visible during the summer in the hemisphere. North.
Visibility
The Summer Triangle is easily recognizable in the northern skies since there are only a few bright stars in its vicinity.
It is located above mid-northern latitudes during the summer months, but can also be seen during the spring very early in the morning. In autumn the triangle is visible in the afternoon until November. From the southern hemisphere it appears inverted and close to the horizon during the winter months.
Characteristics
Since ancient times these stars have been used by sailors and merchants for their orientation. Nowadays, they are an obligatory point of reference for astronomy fans when it comes to making observations in the night sky, due to the great help they offer to locate other stars and constellations.