Welcome to Winter Preview, a series of posts that highlights sights that can be seen in the winter skies. The constellation Auriga is one of those that looks nothing like what it is named. Auriga is the Charioteer, but you’d have to have a very active imagination to see a chariot in its vaguely pentagon-like… Read More Winter Preview: Half a Charioteer
Rigel We return to the famous constellation Orion for star #6 on our countdown, RIGEL, the brightest star in that constellation. Orion is truly a brilliant sight in the winter sky. It is the only constellation with two stars in this countdown, the other was Betelgeuse. And the three stars of its belt do not… Read More Brightest Stars Visible From Chicago: #6
Procyon We’ve reached number 7 on our countdown of the brightest stars visible from Chicago. PROCYON is the brightest star of the constellation Canis Minor, the lesser dog. Canis Minor is a rather small constellation, with only two stars visible to the naked eye. It is one of the two canine constellations in the Northern Hemisphere;… Read More Brightest Stars Visible From Chicago: #7
Betelgeuse For number 9 on our countdown, we visit the famous constellation Orion and find the red supergiant BETELGEUSE at its upper left corner. Betelgeuse, like many other stars, has a name derived from Arabic. Betelgeuse and the constellation Orion are among the easiest things to find in the night sky. Unfortunately, they are not… Read More Brightest Stars Visible From Chicago: #9
Southern Lights It is finally March. Chicago is slowly thawing out from a bitterly cold winter, and it is a good time to take a look again at the spectacular bright stars that are typically associated with the winter sky. An hour after sunset (around 8:00 pm Central Daylight Time), look to the south. As… Read More Skywatching: March 13-23
Orion is prominent in the winter sky. Here is a “deep sky time lapse” journey to the Great Orion Nebula–a fuzzy spot below Orion’s belt that you can see in binoculars, maybe even in the city.
