January

Taurus the Bull is easily spotted. Its head is the Hyades, a V-shaped cluster of stars. His horns point outward from the V. Aldebaran is the red eye of the Bull as he charges down upon us.

A tiny, faint constellation, located south of Orion, barely visible from 35 degrees north latitude in December and January.

A faint constellation between Gemini and Leo.

South of Orion in the Winter Hexagon, near the horizon.

Procyon, the brightest star of Canis Minor, serves as the vertex of the Winter Hexagon lying between Gemini and Sirius.

Locate Canopus by drawing a line from the easternmost star of Orion’s belt down through Rigel, Orion’s left foot. Canopus lies about twice as far from Orion’s belt as Sirius.

Between Canopus and the south pole lies the Large Magellenic Cloud (LMC), located in the constellation Dorado the Swordfish.

Between Canopus and Crux are the False Cross (nearer Canopus, shared by Carina and Vela) and the Diamond Cross (nearer Crux, in Carina). These are fainter than Crux and were once part of Argo Navis.

Below Orion in the far south, Columba is tiny, with few bright stars. Barely visible in December from 35 degrees north latitude.

Dorado the Swordfish is a small and obscure but very interesting constellation. It contains the Large Magellenic Cloud (LMC) and the only recent naked-eye supernova. In addition, the south ecliptic pole is located about where the "eye" of the fish would be. The Large and Small Magellenic Clouds are bright enough to be visible even in Moonlight.

Look for the two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, which form one vertex of the Winter Hexagon. Castor is closer to Capella, in Auriga on the north; and Pollus is closer to Procyon, in Canis Minor on the south. Cancer and Leo lie to the east.

The Geminids meteor shower occurs around October 19.