Full moon, dogs, and Taurus — must be my time of year.

The Sky This Week, 2014 January 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal

If you draw an imaginary line through Orion’s belt stars and extend it to the southeast, you’ll run into the night’s brightest star, Sirius.  Although the literal translation of the name means “The Scorcher”, this star is popularly known as The Dog Star due to its location in the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog.  If you imagine Sirius as a jewel in a dog’s collar, you can more or less trace out the figure of a faithful canid leaping up at the heels of his master, Orion. 

From Sirius, sweep your gaze to the northeast to find a more solitary star, Procyon, brightest star in Canis Minor, the Little Dog. 

Continue upward from here to spot the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux.  Gemini is currently hosting the planet Jupiter, who overshadows all of his stellar neighbors. 

Now turn your view to the northwest of the Twin Stars and look for the bright golden glow of Capella, the lead star in the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer.  This star is actually a “quadruple” system, with two red dwarf stars orbiting a more massive pair of yellow giants.  The yellow stars were the first pair to be resolved using a technique called “interferometry”. 

Heading southwest from Capella, we encounter Aldebaran, a rose-tinted star that marks the right “eye” of Taurus, the Bull.  Aldebaran appears to be a member of a large V-shaped group of stars called the Hyades, but in reality it lies at about half the distance to this cluster. 

Finally, sweeping southeast from Aldebaran, we land on Rigel, the brightest (usually) star in Orion. 

Collectively these stars are known as the Great Winter Circle, and within their bounds you’ll find nine of the 25 brightest stars in the sky.

The Sky This Week, 2014 January 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal