Located within Canes Venatici beneath the curve of the Big Dipper’s long handle, this gaggle of stars is easy to find with binoculars.
Upgren 1 in Canes Venatici is an excellent binocular object covering about 14′ on the sky. Credit: Alison Klesman (via TheSkyX)
Binocular observers, this one’s for you: Upgren 1, a small grouping of stars discovered in 1963 within the constellation Canes Venatici. High in the west around 10:30 P.M. local daylight time, the Hunting Dogs lie beneath the curve of the Big Dipper’s long handle.
Upgren 1 contains about 10 stars in an area roughly 14’ wide. It sits 5° southwest of 3rd-magnitude Alpha (α) Canum Venaticorum, also called Cor Caroli, and appears like a tiny triangle in binoculars. The discoverer, Arthur Upgren, thought he was looking at an ancient cluster of stars. Today, however, we know this grouping is just a chance superposition on the sky, or an asterism, rather than an associated family of suns.
Sunrise: 5:35 A.M.
Sunset: 8:21 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:39 A.M.
Moonset: 11:39 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (9%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.
