🌌 Visibility Guide for Los Angeles (Spring-Summer 2025)
| Star | Best Visibility Time | Direction | Height Above Horizon | Key Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcturus | After dusk (May–Jul) | East to South | High | Follow handle of Big Dipper (arc to Arcturus) |
| Spica | After dusk (May–Jul) | South | Medium | “Spike to Spica” from Arcturus |
| Regulus | Early evening (May) | West | Low to setting | Forms bottom of sickle (Leo’s mane) |
| Capella | Just after sunset (May), gone by summer | Northwest → sets early | Low | Part of winter hexagon |
| Sirius | Only visible briefly at dusk in early May | Southwest → sets | Very low | Brightest, but sets early in spring |
| Betelgeuse | Sets shortly after sunset in May | West → sets | Very low | Red-orange, shoulder of Orion |
🔭 How to Identify Them in the Sky:
1. Arcturus – Boötes
- Use the Big Dipper’s handle: follow the arc → “Arc to Arcturus”
- Orange and very bright
- High in eastern sky at dusk in May, overhead in June
2. Spica – Virgo
- Continue the arc from Arcturus → “Spike to Spica”
- Bright blue-white
- Lower in the southern sky
3. Regulus – Leo
- Forms the “sickle” or backward question mark in Leo
- Low in west in spring
- Often one of the last winter stars to disappear
4. Capella – Auriga
- Bright golden star
- Winter star, sets early in spring
- Low in the northwest just after sunset in May
5. Sirius – Canis Major
- Brightest star in the night sky
- Sets soon after the Sun in spring
- Hard to see by late May unless viewed shortly after sunset
6. Betelgeuse – Orion
- Red-orange, upper-left of Orion
- Visible only in early spring evenings (sets soon)
- By June, Orion is below the horizon at night