In Depth |
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Here we see the constellations with labels
added, for a little more exploration. Take
your last look at some of the winter stars in
the west (to the right), sinking into the
sunset quite early: the bright star Capella in
Auriga the charioteer is saying farewell in the
northwest; the twin stars of Castor and Pollux
do likewise for Gemini due west, with the
lesser dog star Procyon barking good-bye to
their south.
Covering an amazing 68 degrees of sky is the sea serpent, Hydra; his five-starred head is east of the twins, and lies quite near the faint stars of Cancer the crab. Hydra continues its snaky way east and south past the second magnitude orange star, Alphard, which marks its heart southwest of Leo. Fainter stars continue Hydra past the very faint groups Anrtlia (a pump, no kidding), Sextans (the sextant, a navigational instrument) and Crater the cup - you may miss these groups entirely if you live in the city.
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The four stars of Corvus the crow, however, will catch your eye, not far from Spica. In the deep south, some of the stars of Centaurus poke above the horizon, but sadly not the brilliant Alpha Centauri, the nearest star, which lies too far south to be seen by Californians.
Moving back to Arcturus, straight up, we can see the large form of Hercules to his east, painted by third and fourth magnitude stars. North of Hercules is the beginning of another celestial dragon, but of the flying variety: Draco winds his way above the pole star, passing between the little dipper and our featured constellation this month, the famed and bright Ursa Major, the great bear. Ursa Major is much larger than the big dipper which resides within it; notice that many other fairly bright stars extend the dipper into the great bear.
To find out more about our featured constellation, click on "featured constellation" below.
Remember, planets are not shown on this chart - for information about them, see our Planets This Month section.
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