How To Find The Winter Constellations

Intro

Have you ever stayed out stargazing, watching the constellations inch slowly across the sky, wondering which constellation is which, and how can you find the pictures within them? Learning the constellations is easier than you’d think, and that’s because, once you’ve learned one constellation, you can learn them all. Whether it’s 10pm or 3am, January or March, winter or summer, the constellations are always in the same place in relation to each other. Read on to find out how Orion can help you locate constellations in the winter sky!

TIME TO READ

3–4 minutes

1. Finding Orion – The Hunter
2. Finding Canis Major – The Big Dog
3. Finding Gemini – The Twins
4. Finding Taurus – The Bull
5. Finding Auriga – The Charioteer
6. Finding Perseus – The Hero

Finding Orion – The Hunter

Orion is one of the most prominent constellations in the winter sky, and it’s bright enough to be seen in even the most light-polluted cities. The easiest way to find Orion is by looking for its belt—three bright stars in a diagonal line, cutting through the middle of the constellation (see the stars Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka in the graphic above). Orion is our point of reference to find all the other constellations, so we’ll keep coming back to it.

Bonus: to double check that you’ve found Orion, look to the top left, above the belt, and there should be a bright, reddish star. That’s Betelgeuse, aka Orion’s left shoulder.

Finding Canis Major – The Big Dog

Now that we know where Orion is, we can easily find our next constellation: Canis Major. Simply look to the bottom left of Orion. See that super bright, bluish star? That’s Sirius. It’s the brightest star in the winter sky, and part of the constellation Canis Major!

Finding Gemini – The Twins

Let’s head back to Orion. If we look above Orion’s left shoulder (marked by the star Betelgeuse), we’ll eventually run into two stars positioned fairly close together, one bluish and one reddish. The bluish star is Castor, and the reddish star is Pollux. These are the brightest and most visible stars within the constellation Gemini, and they make up the heads of the twins.

Finding Taurus – The Bull

Now let’s look above Orion’s right shoulder (marked by the star Bellatrix). Do you see a bright red star that looks a little bit like Mars? That’s Aldebaran, the most prominent star in the constellation Taurus.

Bonus: Away from city lights, look to the right of Aldebaran and you’ll see a group of small stars clustered together. This is the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, and it’s a well-known star cluster within the constellation Taurus.

Finding Auriga – The Charioteer

We can use both Taurus and Orion to help us find our next constellation. If we go above Orion’s head (marked by the star Meissa), or to the top left of Taurus’ Aldebaran, we’ll see a yellowish star that’s almost as bright as Sirius. This is the star Capella in the constellation Auriga.

Finding Perseus – The Hero

Now that we’ve drifted farther away from Orion, we can find our way using Auriga. If we look to the right of Auriga, we’ll see an open-triangle shaped constellation—Perseus! There are no notably bright stars in Perseus, but it’s easy to find it by picking out the triangle shape next to Auriga.

Conclusion

Now that you know some of the major winter constellations, you can constellation-hop! Perseus will help you find Cassiopeia, Cassiopeia will help you find Andromeda, Andromeda will help you find Pisces, Pisces will help you find Cetus, and so on. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or if you want to know more. Happy stargazing!