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February

  • Ant - Antlia the Air Pump

    IAU Constellation
    Ant - Antlia the Air Pump

    Size

    62 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
  • Aur - Auriga the Charioteer

    IAU Constellation
    Aur - Auriga the Charioteer

    Size

    21 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Northern

    Intro and Visual description

    Auriga lies in the Milky Way, with many binocular and telescopic objects, between Gemini, Perseus and Taurus, at the top of the Winter Hexagon. Auriga looks like a pentagon, if one includes Alnath, which is also the tip of one of Taurus the Bull’s horns (Alnath was once Gamma-Aurigae, but is now officially Beta-Tauri).

  • Cam - Camelopardalis the Giraffe

    IAU Constellation
    Cam - Camelopardalis the Giraffe

    Size

    18 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Circumpolar (northern)
    Northern

    Intro and Visual description

    A huge and dim constellation located between Perseus and Ursa Major.

  • Cnc - Cancer the Crab

    IAU Constellation
    Cnc - Cancer the Crab

    Size

    31 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Zodiac
    Northern

    Intro and Visual description

    A faint constellation between Gemini and Leo.

  • CMa - Canis Major the Big Dog

    IAU Constellation
    CMa - Canis Major the Big Dog

    Size

    43 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

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

  • CMi - Canis Minor the Little Dog

    IAU Constellation
    CMi - Canis Minor the Little Dog

    Size

    71 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Northern
    Equatorial

    Intro and Visual description

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

  • Cha - Chamaeleon

    IAU Constellation
    Cha - Chamaeleon

    Size

    79 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Col - Columba the Dove

    IAU Constellation
    Col - Columba the Dove

    Size

    54 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

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

  • Dor - Dorado the Swordfish

    IAU Constellation
    Dor - Dorado the Swordfish

    Size

    72 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)

    Intro and Visual description

    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.

  • Gem - Gemini the Twins

    IAU Constellation
    Gem - Gemini the Twins

    Size

    30 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Zodiac
    Northern

    Intro and Visual description

    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.

Pagination

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IAU Constellation Main Page

Tau - Taurus the Bull

IAU Constellation
Tau - Taurus the Bull

Size

17 of 88
Astronomical Regions
Zodiac
Northern
Equatorial

Intro and Visual description

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.

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| And | Ant | Aps | Aql | Aqr | Ara | Ari | Aur | Boo | Cae | Cam | Cap | Car | Cas | Cen | Cep | Cet | Cha | Cir | CMa | CMi | Cnc | Col | Com | CrA | CrB | Crt | Cru | Crv | CVn | Cyg | Del | Dor | Dra | Equ | Eri | For | Gem | Gru | Her | Hor | Hya | Hyi | Ind | Lac | Leo | Lep | Lib | LMi | Lup | Lyn | Lyr | Men | Mic | Mon | Mus | Nor | Oct | Oph | Ori | Pav | Peg | Per | Phe | Pic | PsA | Psc | Pup | Pyx | Ret | Scl | Sco | Sct | Ser | Sex | Sge | Sgr | Tau | Tel | TrA | Tri | Tuc | UMa | UMi | Vel | Vir | Vol | Vul |

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Kerry Magruder, Brent Purkaple, and Aja Tolman, editors, "The Sky Tonight: Cultural Archaeology of the Stars" (December 21, 2019 - ongoing), skytonight.org.


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