Constellation of the Month: Boötes (the Herdsman)

Boötes is one of the most prominent constellations in the spring evening sky of the northern celestial hemisphere, crossing the meridian around 10 during the month of June...hence I've selected it as my first "constellation of the month".  It's also one of the earliest I learned and observed during the spring of 1964 when my father introduced stargazing to me one evening.  There's obviously some story behind its designation as "herdsman", but to me it looks more like a kite than anything...once you connect the dots between the brightest stars, that is.  At the kite's base is the constellation's main attraction, the first-magnitude star Arcturus, clearly visible even in lighted city skies.  Since I live near latitude 30 degrees North and Arcturus's declination is about 19 degrees North, this red giant that is 36.7 light years away passes just a little south of the zenith (overhead) right about the time this month that I'm pulling in front of my house (I get off from work at 10).  Unfortunately, June this year where I live has been marked by predominantly overcast night skies...even when stars are visible there has been fog to obscure the sky.  One rule of thumb for locating Arcturus: take the stars of the Big Dipper's handle and project them southeastward: they roughly point to this fourth-brightest star in the night sky.  Of course, you can get much more background information on Arcturus and various aspects of Boötes simply by clicking on the Wikipedia article.  When I think of different constellations I tend to view them in relation to those surrounding them...with Boötes the immediate neighbors, starting at the north and going around clockwise, are Ursa Major (with the Big Dipper embedded), Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Virgo, Serpens Caput, and Corona Borealis.  When Boötes is high in the sky, look toward the southeast and you'll see the "front" end of Scorpius rising...that should clue you in to my "constellation of next month".  The above representation of Boötes is courtesy of astronomytrek.com...