Stars are Bright Over Gainesville Tonight

I stepped outside tonight (it's between 10 and 11 as I write this) and noticed, for a change, how clear the sky is and how bright the stars are.  No clouds or moon are in sight to dim the view.  The early autumn evening sky is not exactly known for its splendor, but looking up in a westward direction the "summer triangle" of first-magnitude stars Deneb, Altair, and Vega highlight their respective constellations of Cygnus (the swan), Aquila (the eagle), and Lyra (the lyre).  I look southward, and just above the nearby tall pine trees and slightly to the east is Fomalhaut, another bright star, in the constellation Piscis Austrinus (the southern fish).  In the north, above the North Star, or Polaris, is the constellation Cepheus (the king), looking like an inverted ramshackle house.  Just east of Cepheus is the relatively bright Cassiopeia (the queen), looking like a "w" or "m" on its side, depending on how you look at it. Further down in the eastern sky can be found Perseus and Andromeda, two constellations, along with Casseiopeia, that are a part of the Greek Perseus mythology.  But to me the constellation that represents the essence of the fall season is Pegasus (the flying horse), which right now is passing near to overhead.  It is a very large constellation, not faint but not that bright, either.  Its dominant feature is the rectagular box of stars from which the horse's head and limbs extend.  I look down from Pegasus to the lower southeastern sky where lies Cetus (the whale).  It, too, usually isn't very bright...but tonight I see a pretty bright star there.  Is that Mira, I wonder...Mira is a variable star that undergoes great extremes in its brightness.  I'll have to find out about it.  Yes, the stars are out tonight, for sure...I can even make out fainter stars and constellations, such as the Zodiac's Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces, that are usually invisible from my yard.  It's too bad that conditions here weren't like this when we had our recent "Supermoon" eclipse...