If any of you have attended an astronomy event during the warm season, then you may recall the stars of summer, such as Antares, Vega, and Albireo. There are several bright stars in winter that are of interest on our cold, clear nights. One advantage to winter viewing is that dark skies arrive early.
Other than our Sun, the brightest star in the sky is a winter star. It is Sirius. Because it is in the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog, Sirius is also called the Dog Star. Look for it in the East-South-East after 8 pm at this time of year. Sirius is about 9 light-years distant from Earth.
Northwest from Sirius are two bright stars in Orion, Rigel and Betelgeuse. Rigel is a blue-white giant and is about 80 times larger than our Sun! If we assume that Orion is facing us, then Rigel is the left knee. Betelgeuse is Orion’s right shoulder and is a red supergiant. If it were where our Sun is, then it would extend perhaps to the orbit of Jupiter.
Betelgeuse marks the center of a large asterism called the Winter Hexagon. Sirius and Rigel are also part of the Winter Hexagon. Starting from Rigel and moving clockwise, we find the other five stars: Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Capella, and Aldebaran. These stars are in six different constellations. Can you name all six?
Aldebaran, about 65 light years distant, is an orange giant star in the constellation Taurus, The Bull. If you can find Aldebaran, then look for the Hyades, an open star cluster within 2 degrees of Aldebaran. The Hyades are about 150 light years distant. Also, look for the Pleiades, a famous open cluster that is more than 400 light years distant. The Hyades cluster is much larger than the Pleiades, but not as bright. Both are great binocular objects.
There are also several interesting bright stars early in the morning. Arcturus will be moderately high in the west-south-west sky. Arcturus is also visible during summer evenings. Other morning winter stars that we see in the evening summer sky are Vega and Spica.
Western Slope Skies is produced by members of the Black Canyon Astronomical Society. This episode was written and recorded by Bryan Cashion.
