Clarkson Integrator

Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Wikimedia Commons The above image illustrates a method in which Orion can be used to find other constellations, including Aldebaran, Procyon, Sirius, Castor, and Pollux.

Orion is a good starting point for star gazers that look upon the winter sky. You can easily find and identify several other celestial objects extending outward around the constellation. These include, but are not limited to: Gemini, Taurus, Canis Major and Canis Minor. Mars is hard to miss, when looking at Orion, this week. Currently, Mars floats directly above Orion's head.

Mars is one of the easiest planets to identify, due to its brightness and reddish hue. It will remain above Orion for the remainer of the semester, slowly moving upwards. It is moving towards the constellation Gemini, which lies to the upper left of Orion.

The Gemini constellation is best identified by a pair of bright stars, Castor and Pollux. These make up the heads of the twins. To find these two twin stars, simply extend a line that starts from Orion's left foot, Rigel, up through his right hand, Betelgeuse.

If you trace a line through Orion's belt and extend it to his upper left, you'll find another bright star. This star, Aldebaran, is the brightest star in Taurus, the Bull. On clear nights, or with a telescope, if you continue following that line drawn through Orion's belt, you'll see a beautiful star cluster known as the Pleiades.

The Pleiades are an unusual grouping of hot blue stars. Fourteen of them can be seen by the naked eye under good observing conditions. In total, there are nearly 1000 stars that make up the Pleiades.

The brightest star in our sky, Sirius the Dog Star, is beneath that line and to the left. Sirius has an apparent brightness of -1.5, making it the brightest star in our sky by a factor of two. It is the major member of the Canis Major constillation. The remaining stars in this constellation are dim and difficult to see in normal skies.

Canis Major's small brother constellation, Canis Minor, is also easily identifiable using Orion as a starting point. This time, extend a line from Orion's left hand, Bellatrix, through his right hand, Betelgeuse. This will point you to Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor.

Hopefully these simple guides can help you find four more constellations. The only thing you need is a simple understanding of the constellation Orion. This should give you a better understanding of a large portion of the southern winter night sky. All of these lines can be seen in the accompanying image, taken from the Wikipedia commons.

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