Night Sky Photography -- 04-25-2021 -- The Whole Winter Hexagon In One Photograph!

Good evening everyone!

This evening I went out to the local baseball field -- the biggest open view of the sky close to where I live -- to try and get a photo of Mercury and Venus low in the west toward the sunset.

Unfortunately, both planets were far too low over the horizon for me to get a good shot of them. But it wasn't a total loss. I was able to finally capture the major stars of the Winter Hexagon (Circle) asterism and Mars in a single photo.

The best way to find the Winter Hexagon is to look for the Constellation Orion The Hunter -- the only constellation that is completely encircled in the asterism. Orion is quite helpful in locating half of the stars in the Winter Circle.

The bright star Rigel, one of the feet of Orion, is a starting point. Use either Rigel, or Orion's Belt, in a line to the bright star Aldebaran in the Constellation Taurus The Bull. You can also use Orion's Belt to point out Sirius, the brightest star in both the Constellation Canis Major (The Greater Dog) and the Winter Hexagon.

The star that makes up Orion's right shoulder, Betelgeuse, is one third of the second asterism, The Winter Triangle, along with Sirius and Procyon in the Constellation Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog).

Once you locate these its easy to find the rest of the bright stars in the Winter Hexagon: Pollux, Castor, and Capella.

Mars will continue to remain a part of the Winter Hexagon till at least June 12th of this year when it joins the twin stars Pollux and Castor. The Red Planet will continue to grow fainter as it moves farther away in its orbit from Earth.

Well everyone I hope y'all enjoyed my final night sky photographic offering of this month. Next month promises to have some really exciting moments for night sky observers -- including a Lunar Eclipse on the night of May 25-26th! Hopefully we will be blessed with clear skies for that here in South Carolina.

Until next time have a wonderful Dixie evening and y'all be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!