In just the last few weeks our night sky has gone through a seasonal transformation. The stars of autumn are in our night sky. The constellation Perseus is now hugging the northeastern sky. This is a bright group of stars that appears just above the northeastern horizon at 10 p.m.

Perseus is a constellation filled with the stars and features of the Milky Way. It is also the home of bright star clusters visible with a pair of binoculars. It is also the home of nebula a bright variable star.

Above Perseus is the large horse constellation known as Pegasus and nearby lady constellation, Andromeda. A star chart will render these constellations and their many features. We like this area of the Milky Way for it is populated with with our galaxy’s starry features and one of them is outside our galaxy.

Andromeda is the home of one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky, familiarly known as the Andromeda Galaxy. This galaxy has often been referred to as the sister galaxy to our own, similar in shape and appearance. The Andromeda Galaxy in universal measurement is our galaxy’s nearby neighbor, but that still translates to 2.5 million light years away. The Andromeda Galaxy is only faintly visible without any optical assistance.

Below Perseus there is the zodiacal constellation Taurus and the star cluster Pleiades, a constellation we associate with early winter.