Winter Constellations in the Northern Hemisphere
Winter Constellations in the Northern Hemisphere
Well OSU fans, it’s time to pull out the star charts and take a look at the winter constellations in the Northern Hemisphere. The winter sky is dominated by the awesome constellation, Orion and Orion can be used as the starting point for your winter constellation observing.
To find Orion in early winter, look southeast. You will easily find three stars that are lined up in a row. These are the stars in Orion’s belt. If you look to the lower right of the belt, you will come to a bright white star. This is Rigel which forms Orion’s knee. If you look to the upper left of the belt, you’ll find a bright orange star. This star is Betelgeuse, which some refer to as “Beetlejuice”. Congratulations! You’ve just identified Orion. From here, it is easy to find other major winter constellations.
Orion, the Hunter, is accompanied by two hunting dogs – Canis Major which includes the Sirius (the Dog Star) and Canis Minor which includes the star, Procyon. Finding Sirius is easy. It is the brightest star in the winter night sky. Follow the line of Orion’s belt to the the left. You won’t miss it. Sirius makes up the head of Canis Major, the Great Dog. Directly above Sirius is Procyon. To find it using Orion, locate the two stars that make up Orion’s shoulders and follow the line they create to the first bright star you find. That is Procyon. Now you’ve found both of Orion’s hunting dogs!
Complete Winter Constellation Chart
Now that you’ve gotten good at using Orion as your guide, it’s time to find Gemini. Follow the line that is formed between Rigel and Betelgeuse upwards. You will come to two lines of stars that are capped by two brighter stars. These are the twin stars Pollux (to the left) and Castor (to the right).
To find the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, follow Orion’s belt to the right. You will pass just below a bright star called Aldebaran and see a small group of stars that form the Pleiades.
If you go back and locate Aldebaran, you will see a small group of five stars close by. This group is the main part of Taurus the Bull.
The last constellation to find on our journey is Auriga, or the Charioteer. This constellation is to the left of Taurus and can be found by lining up the left-most star in Orion’s belt with the bottom-most star in Orion and follow it upwards. You will see a very bright star. This star is called Capella which makes up the top of Auriga.
Winter is a great time to observe the night sky so bundle up and get out there!
Good Stuff!!!!
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pretty good
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Hey this stuff is real helpful!!:D
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nice 🙂
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This will be incredible for science! 😀
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unbelievable
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WOW! I cant believe my eyes omg!
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Dave, it sure sounds to me like you were looking at the Seven Sisters star cluster also known as the Pleiades. The only thing that puzzles me is the red color, other than that it’s a great match. They’re a fairly tight bunch of stars high up in the east during the late evening. Usually between 6-8 stars are visible.
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I have found new constellations never seen, but preety good chart
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This was helpful. Thanks!
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what is the major winter constellation in our sky right now?
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Greg - Staff Writer replied:
December 14th, 2012 at 9:19 am
Hi Christian – The best one to look for is Orion. It will rise in the east after sunset. It is easy to find. Look for three stars that make a straight line. That’s Orion’s belt. Good luck!
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to see it all, it appears that we are waiting for journey in the universe.when it will start, we all would have been became many thousands years old i.e it is all beyond imagination & …
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My husband says he can see Orion in the morning and evening skies. Why is that?
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Does any one know if there is a archive site of a star map at a specific location on and date ?
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Wow this was really useful and I found this interesting!
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