arcturus | EarthSky

Star chart: Big Dipper with pink arrows from handle to Arcturus and then to Spica.

Follow the arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica

If you only ever learn 1 star mnemonic, make it this one! Arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica to identify 2 of the sky's brightest stars.

Star chart: Constellation Boötes shaped like long narrow kite with 5 labeled stars.

Boötes the Herdsman and its bright star Arcturus

Boötes the Herdsman is a large constellation that holds one of the brightest stars in the sky, Arcturus. Only 3 other stars in the night sky are brighter.

Arc to Arcturus, spike to Spica

Learn a phrase useful to sky watchers: Follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike (or speed on) to Spica.

Arc to Arcturus, a springtime star

Arcturus is one of the easiest stars to find. Late at night in February - earlier as the months pass - just locate the Big Dipper in your northern sky. Then follow the arc in the Dipper's handle to find yellow-orange star Arcturus.

Orange Arcturus sparkles after sunset

On October evenings, look for brilliant Arcturus in the west, flashing in colors. Follow the curve in the Big Dipper’s handle to this yellow-orange star.

Catch Venus, Jupiter, Arcturus at dusk

Look west at dusk throughout September, 2018, for a bright celestial threesome. In order of brightness, they are Venus, Jupiter and the star Arcturus.

Star chart showing relationship between star Arcturus, Spica and Big Dipper.

Arc to Arcturus and spike Spica

Right now, the planets Venus and Jupiter - and the Big Dipper - can help you learn the sky mnemonic follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike to Spica.

Kite-shaped constellation Bootes with Arcturus labeled.

Arcturus, a northern springtime star

Orange Arcturus is the constellation Bootes the Herdsman's brightest star. Look for it in the east around nightfall.

A crescent shape, the moon, is below two dots representing the stars Castor and Pollux, and a larger dot, the planet Jupiter. The next night finds the half hemisphere among all three dots.

Visible planets and night sky guide for April

Visible planets and night sky guide. This evening, look for the moon near bright Jupiter and the twin stars of Gemini. And don't miss the Lyrid meteor shower!

A large, spherical cluster containing thousands of bright stars, so dense in the middle it looks solid white.

Meet M13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

Many stargazers call it the finest globular cluster in the northern half of the heavens. It's M13, also known as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules.

Chart with rings around sun at 2, 4, and 6 light-years with labeled stars.

Alpha Centauri, the star system closest to our sun

Our closest stellar neighbors are the 3 stars that make up the Alpha Centauri system. They lie just over 4 light-years away from us.

Black background with large, fuzzy ovals of light and very many smaller points and smudges.

Coma Berenices galaxy cluster, best in April and May

Myriads of galaxies - in all shapes and sizes and visible only in telescopes - shine in the Coma Berenices galaxy cluster.

Coma Berenices: See how Leo the Lion lost his tail

Coma Berenices is the constellation of Queen Berenice's Hair. It used to be the tail of Leo the Lion before it became its own constellation.

Sky chart: The full moon near the star Spica, along the steep green ecliptic line.

April full moon is the Pink Moon overnight on April 1

The April 2026 full moon – overnight on April 1-2 – is the Pink Moon and will lie near the star Spica in the constellation Virgo.

Sky chart: Animal-shaped constellation with Regulus labeled and Alphard at lower right.

Lonely Alphard is the brightest star in Hydra

Alphard is the "heart" and brightest star in the constellation Hydra the Water Snake, and it represents a welcome sign of spring for the Northern Hemisphere.

A triangle inside a triangle with labeled stars.

A Spring Triangle of stars heralds the season

As the Northern Hemisphere enters spring, look for the Spring Triangle rising in the east, made up of bright stars from 3 prominent constellations.

Sky chart linking 2 stars in the Big Dipper to Polaris with an arrow, with 5 stars labeled.

Use the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star

Do you know how to find the North Star? The 2 outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, the North Star. It's quick and easy!

Starry, dark sky with bluish stars from constellation Orion and bright star, Sirius, with 4 streaks.

Is Sirius the most luminous star in the sky?

Sirius is the brightest star in Earth's sky because of how close it is to us. It's so bright you might see glints of different colors flashing from it.

Wide array of bright but slightly fuzzy stars, mostly blue-white but one reddish, over dark landscape.

See Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky

Sirius is the brightest star as seen from Earth and is visible from both hemispheres. It lies just 8.6 light-years away, in the constellation Canis Major.

Star chart showing the constellation Auriga with Capella, 2 other stars, and 3 Messier objects labeled.

Capella is one of the sky’s brightest stars

The 6th-brightest star in the night sky, Capella, in the Northern Hemisphere constellation Auriga the Charioteer, is also a point of the Winter Hexagon.

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Follow the arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica

Boötes the Herdsman and its bright star Arcturus

Arc to Arcturus, spike to Spica

Arc to Arcturus, a springtime star

Orange Arcturus sparkles after sunset

Catch Venus, Jupiter, Arcturus at dusk

Arc to Arcturus and spike Spica

Arcturus, a northern springtime star

Visible planets and night sky guide for April

Meet M13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

Alpha Centauri, the star system closest to our sun

Coma Berenices galaxy cluster, best in April and May

Coma Berenices: See how Leo the Lion lost his tail

April full moon is the Pink Moon overnight on April 1

Lonely Alphard is the brightest star in Hydra

A Spring Triangle of stars heralds the season

Use the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star

Is Sirius the most luminous star in the sky?

See Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky

Capella is one of the sky’s brightest stars