Night Sky Photography -- 02-05-2022 -- Constellation Monoceros The Unicorn

Yeah folks, there really IS a Space Unicorn!

Good evening fellow stargazers!

So tell me, how many of y'all believe in unicorns?

Would you believe me if I told y'all that you can find a unicorn in the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere? Its hard to find, but if you know where to look you can find the faint Constellation Monoceros The Unicorn inside the Winter Triangle asterism.

This evening I focused my camera hard on the Winter Triangle stars to locate the faint stars that make up Monoceros. Because this celestial unicorn contains only fourth magnitude stars its difficult to see with the naked eye. You need a really dark sky to see it.

If y'all know exactly where to locate these particular stars, then you're one step closer to locating the elusive unicorn.

As y'all might remember from my previous Night Sky Photography blog posts, the Winter Triangle is made up of three bright evening stars: Sirius, Procyon, and Betelgeuse. These three are the brightest stars in their respective star constellations: Orion The Hunter, Canis Major (the Greater Dog), and Canis Minor (the Lesser Dog).

My first two photographs taken from my back yard shows the three main stars of the Winter Triangle in the night sky dome this evening. I outlined the Winter Triangle and the constellations in relation to its major stars.

In the last photo I outlined the faint stars of Monoceros The Unicorn found between these three constellations mostly inside the Winter Triangle. And there she is y'all!

Well I hope y'all enjoyed this evening night sky offerings. Be sure to look for Monoceros throughout the winter months late at night in very dark areas away from the city's light pollution.