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Aries the Ram – and Jupiter – in the evening sky
In December 2023 bright Jupiter will draw your attention most of the night. It will be very obvious in the east at sunset and will be visible until a few hours before dawn. It will shine near the...
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Canis Major and brilliant Sirius in the New Year
Look for Canis Major, home to the sky’s brightest star, Sirius, on January evenings. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is the best time to observe the constellation Canis Major the...
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See Eridanus the River in the January sky
Looking south on winter evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, you can see Eridanus the River. Achernar, Eridanus’ brightest star, marks the end of a great stream of stars. This brilliant beacon is...
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Lepus the Hare hops through the January sky
Lepus the Hare is near the southern horizon for viewers in the Northern Hemisphere on January evenings. It lies below the feet of Orion. Lepus the Hare is a constellation that brushes the southern...
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Dorado and Mensa house the Large Magellanic Cloud
This star chart shows the constellations Dorado the Swordfish above Mensa the Table Mountain with the Large Magellanic Cloud spanning the border between them. South circumpolar constellations are those...
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Catch a glimpse of Monoceros the Unicorn in the Milky Way
Find Monoceros the Unicorn within a triangle of stars made by Betelgeuse, Procyon and Sirius. You can find a Unicorn in the night sky. Monoceros the Unicorn is a constellation that Dutch cartographer...
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Meet Taurus the Bull in the February evening sky
Taurus the Bull contains 2 star clusters that are easy to spot, the Pleiades and the Hyades. Taurus the Bull The constellation Taurus the Bull is visible during the fall through spring in the Northern...
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Meet Canis Minor the Lesser Dog in February
Canis Minor and its bright star Procyon lie in the Winter Circle or Hexagon. Canis Minor the Lesser or Little Dog is a small constellation, but it has a major star. It’s home to the 8th-brightest star...
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Meet Cancer the Crab and its Beehive cluster
Cancer the Crab, with its Beehive star cluster, needs a dark sky to be seen. It lies between the Gemini stars Castor and Pollux, and the bright star Regulus in Leo. Chart via EarthSky. How to find...
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Meet Sextans, the constellation of the sextant
Sextans the Sextant is a faint constellation south of the bright star Regulus and above Alphard in the constellation Hydra. The constellation Sextans the Sextant represents an astronomer’s device once...
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Meet the Chamaeleon, a southern constellation
The constellation Chamaeleon is a Southern Hemisphere target for April evenings. The constellation of the Chamaeleon lies deep in the Southern Hemisphere sky. In fact, you have to be south of the...
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Meet the constellation Leo Minor the Little Lion
Leo Minor the Little Lion lies above the zodiac constellation Leo the Lion. It’s easiest to find on April evenings. The ancients visualized the first constellations, drawing dot-to-dot figures out of...
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Meet Crux, the constellation of the Southern Cross
Crux is the constellation of the Southern Cross. It lies deep in Southern Hemisphere skies. Image via EarthSky. Crux the Southern Cross is one of the easiest constellations to spot in Southern...
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Centaurus the Centaur contains nearby stars
Centaurus the Centaur is a constellation that lies in Southern Hemisphere skies. It’s home to the closest stars to our sun. Chart via Chelynne Campion/ EarthSky. Centaurus the Centaur is a...
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Virgo the Maiden represents a harvest goddess
The constellation Virgo the Maiden is easy to find by using the handle of the Big Dipper to arc to Arcturus in Boötes, then speeding on (spiking down) to Spica, Virgo’s brightest star. Image via...
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Boötes the Herdsman and its bright star Arcturus
The constellation Boötes the Herdsman is an excellent target for June nights. Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation. Chart via EarthSky. Boötes the Herdsman is a Northern Hemisphere...
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Lupus the Wolf, a constellation in southern skies
Lupus the Wolf is a southern constellation with few bright stars. You can see it from the Northern Hemisphere if you live at southerly latitudes such as Florida. Chart via EarthSky. Lupus is an...
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Meet Libra the Scales, a zodiacal constellation
Libra the Scales is a zodiac constellation home to 2 stars with pleasing names: Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi. Chart via EarthSky. Look for the constellation Libra the Scales on Northern Hemisphere...
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Draco the Dragon and Thuban, a former pole star
Johannes Hevelius drew the constellation Draco the Dragon in Uranographia, his celestial catalog, in 1690. He plotted the sky in reverse, as if seen from above, facing down toward Earth. Note the...
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Cygnus the Swan flies along the Milky Way
Cygnus the Swan’s brightest star, Deneb, marks one of the corners of the Summer Triangle. And its bright double star, Albireo, is one of the finest in the heavens. If you have a dark sky, it’s easy to...
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