• Tau - Taurus the Bull

    IAU Constellation

    Size

    17 of 88
    Astronomical Regions

    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.

  • Aur - Auriga the Charioteer

    IAU Constellation

    Size

    21 of 88
    Astronomical Regions

    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).

  • Gem - Gemini the Twins

    IAU Constellation

    Size

    30 of 88
    Astronomical Regions

    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.

  • Lyn - Lynx

    IAU Constellation

    Size

    28 of 88
    Astronomical Regions

    Intro and Visual description

    Lying between Ursa Major and Gemini, the Lynx is a row of very dim stars silhouetting its crouched outline. From antiquity the lynx was renowned for its keen night vision. Hevelius created this constellation in 1690, noting that one needs the eyes of a lynx to see it.

  • Ori - Orion the Hunter

    IAU Constellation

    Size

    26 of 88
    Astronomical Regions

    Intro and Visual description

    Three stars in a row make up Orion’s belt, within a rectangle of four bright stars representing his shoulders and feet. At sunset in the autumn, Orion’s belt appears to rise straight up on the horizon. The sword hanging from his belt includes M42, the beautiful Orion nebula.

    Since Orion’s belt of three bright stars lies upon the celestial equator, Orion is visible from every inhabited part of the globe.