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What is that Orange Object Near One of the Dippers?

-- | July 3, 2016

Question: What was the slightly orange object near one of the dippers last night?

Answer: If you were looking to the south, near the constellation Sagittarius (which has a “dipper” like collection of stars in it), you were seeing Mars, which is near opposition and is relatively bright and somewhat red/orange in color. I should note that also the bright star Antares is near Mars, which is also reddish in color (and its name means “equal to Mars” in color). Finally, Saturn is not var away (just above Antares). If you were looking to the north, near either the Big or Little Dipper, the object you saw could not have been a planet or other known bright astronomical object.

Jeff Mangum

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