August, Mid-Southern Latitudes (August 15th, 10:30 p.m. local time)

Western Horizon
Eastern Horizon

West

The show, in winter, in the southern hemisphere, is southwest and West. A part of the Milky Way-embedded, typical, southern constellations, is seen, stretching from Crux, the Southern Cross, southeast to Scorpio, the Scorpion, where this part of the skies reconnect with the parts of the Milky Way which are more familiar to people in the northern hemisphere. The two bright stars seen southwest are the 'Pointers', which means that those stars of Centaurus, the Centaur, are 'pointing' to Crux. One of both, Alpha Centauri is a system of stars, into which Proxima Centauri is found, the nearest star to our Sun, at 4.3 light-years! Scorpio is a finely-shaped constellation well figuring, as seen from the southern hemisphere, the insect it's supposed to represent. Libra, the Scales, further, at the bottom of the arch of stars which precedes Antares, was long linked to it, figuring the scorpio's claws, completing the figure perfectly. As Hercules, the Heroe, is now tending low, northwest, Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder, and its two Serpents either side is still well seen. Ophiuchus is figuring Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine as the Serpents are the serpents he used like herb-finders. to a printer-friendly chart
West for the tropics. West for the mid-northern latitudes

East

Let's turn East now! All the southeastern part of the sky is filled with typical southern constellations -fine sights- like Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, Grus, the Crane, Sculptor, the Sculptor, or Phoenix, the Phoenix. The bright star to Piscis Austrinus is the famed Fomalhaut, the name of which, in Arabic -'foum-al-haut'- means 'the fish's mouth'. The much bright star in the region is Achernar, of Eridanus, the River Eridanus, a fine sight! Aquarius, the Water Bearer, is high, East, now, with the Circlet below, as, interestingly, the Great Square of Pegasus, is rising northeast. The show, further, is keeping North! Let's turn North! Here is the Summer Triangle at its best! The Summer Triangle is the distinctive feature of the summer skies, in the northern hemisphere, meaning that up there, it is seen to their South. The Summer Triangle is a large triangle of three stars, composed by the three bright stars to constellations Aquila, the Eagle, Lyra, the Lyra, and Cygnus, the Swan. The highest spike now is Altair, of Aquila with to its lower left Vega, of Lyra, and lower right Deneb, of Cygnus. Much fine sights! The small constellations of Sagitta, the Arrow, Delphinus, the Dolphin, or Equuleus, the Little Horse, are fine, further, in the vicinity. to a printer-friendly chart
East for the tropics. East for the mid-northern latitudes

(color maps with Stellarium; printer-friendly charts with Cartes du Ciel, Patrick Chevalley)