January’s and February’s night skies might be cold, but they can be very clear. Dress for the weather, grab a pair of binoculars and head outside to be treated with some popular stargazing wonders. Take your children or grandchildren with you to show them sights they will never forget.
Look to the south for the constellation Orion which lies halfway between the horizon and the zenith. Its southwestern corner is marked by the bright blue-white star Rigel, and its northeastern corner by the strange-sounding Betelgeuse, a bright red giant star. Between the two shine three stars of equal brightness, all in a row—Orion’s “Belt.”
Carefully inspect the area between Rigel and the Belt for a dim, fuzzy glow. This is the famous star–forming nebula known as the “Great Nebula of Orion.” If you have binoculars handy (even birding binoculars will do nicely), look through them at the nebula and the surrounding area. Simply incredible!
Orion’s Belt points to the northwest to a bright red star, Aldebaran, the major star of the constellation Taurus. Aim the binoculars at it for a good look at the very loose star cluster, the Hyades, surrounding Aldebaran. Then scan farther northwest to reach the delicate star cluster known as the Seven Sisters or the Pleiades. How many faint stars can you count?
The story above first appeared in our January/ February 2022 issue.
