Good evening fellow stargazers!
Happy March everyone! The month that sees the winter season give way to the renewal of the spring equinox on Sunday, March 20th.
In the evening and night sky dome the six main constellations that make up the Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) will continue to be visible in clear skies even as they continue to move west following the setting sun as winter gives way to spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
As I've mentioned in previous Night Sky Photography posts
on this blog, the Winter Circle consists of seven bright stars in six
separate constellations:
Pollux and Castor in the Constellation Gemini the Twins
Procyon in the the Constellation Canis Minor the Lesser Dog
Sirius in the Constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog
Rigel in the Constellation Orion the Hunter
Aldebaran in the Constellation Taurus the Bull
Capella in the Constellation Auriga the Charioteer
With
the exception of the star Castor in the Constellation Gemini, the
Winter Circle stars are all 1st-magnitude with Sirius (the Dog Star)
being among the brightest stars in our sky. Castor is slightly fainter
2nd magnitude star, though still very bright and visible next to its
companion twin, Pollux.
This evening, I was able to capture virtually all the major stars of five of the six constellations of the Winter Circle with one exception. Though I was able to capture the bright star Sirius, the Constellation Canis Major unfortunately would not completely fit in the frame from the only angle I was able to pick up all the stars of the other constellations with.
The following are the photos I was able to take, the first of the major stars in the Winter Circle (outlined in blue) and then the second photos outlining the constellations themselves in white with the Winter Triangle (outlined in red) inside the Winter Circle itself.
Oh and for those of y'all wondering, that small orb-like thing on the bottom right of the photographs is NOT a UFO! It's just the road light that blew out in my front yard recently that the folks at the power company has yet to fix. Thankfully the blown bulb allows for both some foreground scale, and for less light pollution where I didn't have to drive a few miles away to some open field for the shot, so no complaints there at all.
The Winter Circle will still remain fully visible throughout the rest of the month of March with our lovely moon passing between Aldebaran and the Pleiades Star Cluster this week on Tuesday, March 8th and Luna beginning her march through the Winter Circle phasing to First Quarter beauty on Thursday, March 10th. Y'all be sure to check that out -- God and clear skies willing that is.
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