STARS - Sky Treasures And Rewarding Sights
The past few nights have been wonderful for Stargeazing. The next few promise to be as clear and bright so take the time to look. The winter sky gives us some spectacular sights that should not be missed.
You don't need a lot of equipment to go outside at about 10:30p.m., face West and look for three bright stars aligned in an almost-horizontal row. These are the stars of Orion's Belt, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. (There will be a test.). These three also form something of a pointer, to the left, to Sirius, one of the Dog stars and the brightest star in the winter sky. Not to far above the Belt is a bright, reddish star, Betelgeuse, pronounced "Bettlejooze," unlike the Michael Keaton movie, Beetlejuice.
Almost immediately overhead is another reddish, or slightly orange object, the planet, Mars. Nearby, slightly to the right of Mars is a pair of nearly identical stars quite close together. These are the twins, Castor and Pollux, the "stars" of the constellation, Gemini.
Turn to the Southeast and look about 40 degrees above the horizon to a bright, yellowish object. You'll be looking at the planet, Saturn, the one with the most prominent rings. You'll need a telescope to see those.
If you watch Mars and Saturn for a few nights you might notice that they move against the background of stationary stars. This occurs because they are much closer to us than any stars and the planets move in their own orbits around the sun.
When you get home tonight after that meeting don't forget to look up, way, way up and enjoy some of the wonders of the winter sky.
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