Orion the Hunter on December evenings
Tonight – or any December night – discover the well-known constellation Orion the Hunter. It’s brilliant and may be seen from inside smaller cities. And the three stars that make up Orion’s Belt – in a brief, straight row on the Hunter’s midsection – are very noticeable. You probably have a dark sky, you possibly can see one thing else: the starry band of the Milky Way – the edgewise view of our house galaxy – working behind Orion.
As seen from the Northern Hemisphere, after Orion rises, the three stars of Orion’s Belt jut kind of straight up from the horizon. Look on both aspect of the Belt stars for 2 very brilliant stars. One is the reddish star Betelgeuse. The opposite is brilliant, blue-white Rigel.
All through December, the constellation Orion is nicely up by mid-evening (by that we imply by halfway between your native sundown and your native midnight). Like the entire starry sky, as Earth strikes across the sun, Orion rises earlier every night. And, by late December, Orion shall be seen at dusk or early night. That’s true for each the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.
Orion is a summer time constellation for the Southern Hemisphere.
However we within the Northern Hemisphere affiliate Orion with winter nights. That’s as a result of this constellation is up all through our lengthy December and January nights.
Use Orion to seek out the Milky Way
As a result of so many individuals are conversant in Orion, this constellation is a superb leaping off spot for locating the starry pathway of the Milky Way. You’ll want a dark sky to see the hazy arc of stars working behind the brilliant pink star Betelgeuse.
Trying on the Milky Way in our sky is wanting edgewise into the disk of our galaxy. We see the galaxy because the mixed glow of billions of stars. You would possibly know that – within the month of August – the Milky Way seems broad and brilliant through the night hours. At the moment of yr, within the night, all of us on Earth are gazing towards the star-rich center of the galaxy.
Now Earth has traveled in its orbit across the sun, and our night sky is mentioning in a distinct path. In case you see the Milky Way behind the constellation Orion this month, you would possibly suppose it’s very faint in distinction to the August Milky Way. It is fainter, as a result of now we’re wanting towards the galaxy’s periphery. And now there are fewer stars between us and intergalactic space.
Backside line: You’ll find probably the most well-known constellations – Orion the Hunter – plus see the Milky Way tonight.
Read More: Orion’s Belt and the Celestial Bridge
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