Although Autumn marks the beginning of cold feet and hands, the night sky brings us some familiar favorites such as Orion, Taurus, and a majority of the "Clash of the Titans" cast, including Andromeda.
Pictured above is Orion over the Wukoki Pueblo at Wupatki National Monument, north of Flagstaff, Arizona.
At the time of writing this post (9/22), we also have Jupiter, Saturn, and mars visible together late in the night.
Within Orion lies a wide variety of interesting objects, including the old and dying star, Betelgeuse, the young star, Rigel, and the gem of the northern hemisphere, M42, the Orion Nebula, as pictured below.
Before Orion is visible however, Taurus is fully available, which contains the beautiful and fun to image Pleiades cluster, also known as the "Seven Sisters", pictured below. The Pleiades cluster is an open cluster that is very near to us in the Milky Way galaxy, and easily spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy patch in the body of Taurus.
Also visible are several late summer constellations and asterisms, including the Summer Triangle, an asterisk that connects the brightest stars in the constellations of Cygnus, Aquila, and Lyra.
The "clash of the titans" cast, as referred to earlier, includes Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, Pegasus, and Cepheus.
Hercules and the other circumpolar constellations are of course also out, but highest in the sky is Ursa Minor and Draco. Amazing views of the Hercules cluster are still possible and are at ideal viewing heights.
For southern views along the ecliptic, we still have great views of Sagittarius early in the evening, which holds some of the most incredible nebulas available in the northern hemisphere, including the Omega Nebula, as pictured below.
So don't let the end of peak Milky Way season keep you from getting out and enjoying some incredible imaging opportunities that exist in the autumn night sky.
All photos in this article were taken on our stargazing tours, be sure to contact us if you want to get this type of image on one of our tours!
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