How To Find The Brightest Star in the Northern Night Sky.

In the night sky, there are about 2000 to 2500 stars that can be seen with the eye alone. The exact number visible will depend on a number of conditions including the quality of your eyesight, whether you have allowed sufficient time for your eyes to adjust to the dark, the amount of light from the moon and other 'light pollution' from things like streetlights and the quality of the air.

The mountain environment provides an ideal place to view the night sky because there is much less 'light pollution' and the air is clearer. Once you are able to see stars, you can begin to find the constellations they have been arranged into like Orion.

It is a great time for star gazing at the moment with Orion 'The Hunter' visible to the south. The two brightest stars of Orion are Betelgeuse (top left shoulder) and Rigel (bottom left leg).  3 stars make a belt around Orion's middle with another line of stars (and the Orion Nebula) descending from the belt, forming a sword.

The 3 stars that make up Orion's Belt can be used to find Sirius which is the brightest star in the Northern night sky. If you extend the line through the 3 belt stars downwards this will help you find Sirius in the constellation Canis Major (meaning Big Dog) which is why Sirius is sometimes called 'The Dog Star'. Once you have located Betelgeuse and Sirius it is not too difficult to find Procyon.

Sirius, Betelgeuse and Procyon (in the constellation Canis Minor - Little Dog) are 3 of the brightest stars in the Northern night sky and together they form a triangle called The Winter Triangle.

The Summer Triangle

August is a great time to be watching the night sky. Although not quite as impressive as the Winter Hexagon, the Summer Triangle can be easily spotted. It is made up of 3 of the brightest stars in the night sky. Vega in Lyra (Latin for Lyre), Deneb in Signus (Latin for Swan) and in Altair in Aquila (Latin for Eagle)

Look south eastwards (135°) and search for Cygnus first

The brightest star is deneb which is from dhaneb, the Arabic for "tail" (Tail of the swan) Part of the constellation makes up of theNorthern Cross. (Bolder green in the image.)

Now look for Vega in Lyra to the right of Cygnus (see image above). The final of the three stars is another bright star below Deneb and Vega. It is called Altair. It comes froman abreviation of the arabic phrase 'the flying eagle'

Join the three stars up and you have the Sumer triangle.

In the film Contact, (originally a book by Carl Sagan) the message intercepted by Jodi Foster's character is coming from Vega.

Jodie Foster character in Contact 'I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever... A vision... of the universe, that tells us, undeniably, how tiny, and insignificant and how... rare, and precious we all are! A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater then ourselves, that we are not, that none of us are alone!'

All night sky images from Wikipedia.

The Hunter and the Hexagon

February is a good time to be star gazing because there are many interesting constellations to see. Looking south around 9 P.M. the constellation of Orion (The Hunter) is easy to spot.

The Constellation of Orion

This is my favourite constellation. Unlike many constellations, it really does look like its title. A hunter with raised club, a shield and a belt from which hangs a sword. Orion can be used to help spot the Winter Hexagon. This is an imaginary hexagon formed by 6 of the brightest stars in the Night Sky.

Star 1: Rigel from Orion (The Hunter.)
Star 2: Alderbarren from Taurus (The Bull.) This is found by extending a line through the 3 stars that make up Orions Belt upwards. Alderbarren (sometimes called the Bulls Eye) is a reddish star.
Star 3. Sirius from Canis Major (The Large Dog.) This is found by extending a line through the 3 stars that make up Orions Belt downwards. Sirius is the brightest star in the Night Sky.
Star 4. Pollux from Gemini (The Twins.)
Star 5. Procyon from Canis Minor (The Small Dog.)
Star 6. Capella from Auriga (The Charioteer.)

The Winter Hexagon and The Milky Way

Another shape to look out for in the same area of the sky is the Winter Triangle. This is found by joining Betelgeuse (from Orion), Sirius and Procyon.

The Milky Way (Galaxy), which is the galaxy our solar system is part of, runs vertically through the Hexagon.

Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet, of a humdrum star, lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe, in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Carl Sagan