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Arcturus, the brightest star in the summer...

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Arcturus, the brightest star in the summer sky, is virtually overhead at sunset. It slowly slides down the western sky and finally sets before 3 a.m. Arcturus is more than 25 times the diameter and 100 times the brightness of our sun, and at a distance of 34 light- years it is one of the nearer stars. Arcuturus is in the constellation Bootes, the “bear-herder,” and the star herds the two stellar bears around the celestial pole.

Source: John Mosley, Griffith Observatory

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