Despite the cold, winter brings us many beautiful constellations, highlighted by bright stars. Let’s explore 6 of them, never to be surprised under the night sky.
The winter constellations are best observed in the evening from late December to late March in the northern hemisphere, and from late June to late September in the southern hemisphere.
The most prominent winter constellations in the northern hemisphere sky include Aries, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Gemini, The Hunter, and Taurus. Winter constellations in the southern sky are similar to summer constellations in the northern hemisphere.
Constellations in the dark winter sky. Source: Stellarium Software
To find the constellations easily and accurately, use sky simulation software. On PC, download the software Stellarium. On your phone, download applications such as Star Chart, Star Walk or Night Sky lite.
STARS CAN HUNTING WOMEN
The constellation of the hunter, or Orion, is shaped like an hourglass, representing the body of the mythical hunter Orion, as well as the Belt of Orion And Orion’s Sword famous. The brightest stars in this constellation are Rigel and Betelgeuse, honored to be among the 10 brightest stars in the sky. Both are supergiant stars and are among the farthest apparent magnitude I stars from Earth.
Constellation of the hunter. Author: Hoydalsvik
Two of the stars in Orion’s belt – Alnilam and Alnitak – are also supergiants, while the third, Mintaka, is a multistellar system, the main component of which is a bright giant, a class B main sequence star and a B-class subgiant star. The three stars that make up Orion’s belt all belong to the OB1b population, which means that they form in the same molecular cloud and share the same transfer of translational tendencies. This is why the shape of this star network has not changed since ancient times.
Orion’s Belt is also used to find nearby bright stars. Looking in a straight line made up of three stars to the east, you can find Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Facing Sirius, on the other side of Orion’s belt, is Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus.
Use the Hunter Constellation to find Sirius, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades star cluster. Source: Trevor O’Donoghue
Forthcoming Orion’s Sword, depicted as attached to the hunter’s belt, consisting of three aligned stars. The object in the middle looks like a star to the naked eye, but it’s actually the Orion Nebula – one of the brightest, best known and most photographed nebulae in the sky. The Orion Nebula (M42), the closest massive star-forming region to the solar system, is visible to the naked eye even though the nebula is located 1344 light-years from Earth. Within this nebula exists a bright open star cluster called the Trapezium, located in the center of the nebula.
The Orion Nebula. Looking through a telescope, you can only see a faint speck of light. Colorful images like this require the use of a camera and image manipulation techniques. Source: DL-Digital.com
The Orion Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud System, a massive star-forming region containing a number of notable deep objects including the Flame Nebula, Horsehead Nebula , the De Mairan Nebula (M43) and the Orion Nebula. brightest diffuse nebula in the sky.
STAR GURU & TU FU
Taurus (Taurus) is one of the oldest constellations in the sky and contains notable stars and deep objects. The brightest star in the constellation, Aldebaran, is the 13th brightest star in the sky. This orange giant has an apparent magnitude of 0.85 and is located 65.1 light years from Earth.
Taurus constellation with two star clusters Hyades, Pleiades and the star Aldebaran. Source: Craig Daily Press
Taurus is also the constellation containing the Pleiades star cluster (also known as the Seven Virgins; M45) and the Hyades star cluster, two of the closest open star clusters to Earth, and the Crab Nebula (M1), remnants of the supernova. nova, observed in 1054.
The Pleiades star cluster. Source: Amazing Sky
The constellation of Auriga, the charioteer of the sky, contains the star Capella, which is the sixth brightest star in the sky, and also has three open clusters designated by the French astronomer Charles Messier, namely M36, M37 and M38. This constellation is easy to see in the sky because its brightest star is part of the Winter Hexagon.
Aries is located right next to Taurus and not far from the Hunter. Source: Stellarium
DAI KUYEN & THIEU KHUAN SHOCKING STAR
The constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor contain two of the brightest stars in the sky. Sirius, or Libra, is the brightest star in the night sky. Belonging to the constellation Canis Major and only 8.6 light years from Earth, Sirius ranks as the 5th closest star to our solar system. It is a binary star system composed of a class A main sequence star and a class D white dwarf. With an apparent magnitude of -1.46, Sirius is almost twice as bright as Caponus, the second brightest star in the sky, located in the constellation Carina in the southern hemisphere. The constellation Canidae also contains the bright open star cluster M41, which is located near the star Sirius and is easy to observe through a telescope.
The constellation Canis Major with the bright star Sirius. Author: Alan Dyer
Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor, ranks as the 8th brightest star in the sky. It has an apparent magnitude of 0.34 and is also a binary star system, consisting of an F-class white main-sequence star and a white dwarf.
Constellation of the Hunter (left) with Procyon (upper right) and luminous Sirius (lower). Source: ESA/Hubble
GEMINI
The constellation Gemini (Gemini) can be seen east of Taurus, between Procyon and the bright stars of Aries. The two brightest stars in this constellation, Pollux and Castor, appear similar to the naked eye, but in fact they are quite distinctly different. The brightest star, Pollux, with an apparent magnitude of 1.14 and 34 light-years away, is the closest orange giant to the Sun. Castor is a star system with an apparent magnitude of 1.58, about 51 light-years away. This star system is made up of six stars and is divided into three pairs.
Gemini. Source: Imgur
The constellation of Gemini contains several important objects such as: the open star cluster M35, the Jellyfish Nebula, the Eskimo Nebula and the Medusa Nebula.
The star cluster M35 (left), is easy to find with binoculars. Author: Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet)
WINTER TRIANGLE & RED WINTER hexagon
The bright stars mentioned above are often grouped into two famous asterisms. Just find these two star arrays, you will easily find 6 constellations in the article.
- Winter Triangle: consists of 3 stars, which are Betelgeuse, Procyon and Sirius
- Winter Hexagon: includes 6 stars, which are Capella, Aldebaran, Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, and Pollux (or Castor)
Winter hexagon and winter triangle. Image source: Yin Hao
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