Baseball diamonds in the sky

We're coming up on World Series time once again so it may be of interest to baseball fans that there are two star patterns that very much resemble baseball diamonds in our current evening sky.

Some sky watchers might immediately think of the Great Square of Pegasus, landmark of the autumn sky, as one of these celestial ball fields, and they would be right. This week at around 8:00 p.m., the Square is high in the eastern sky. I know that many planetarium lecturers over the years have always referenced the Great Square as a baseball diamond (even though the "diamond" itself is in rather banged-up condition).

The star, Scheat, in the upper right corner of the Square would mark home plate. The star, Alpheratz, in the upper left corner of the Square marks first base (Alpheratz, in fact, actually belongs to the constellation of Andromeda, the Princess). Algenib, in the lower left corner of the Square is second base, while Markab in the lower right corner is third base.

Baseball diamonds in the sky