Good evening, fellow stargazers!
If any of y'all are still looking to find Mars in the evening skies, y'all can easily spot it as it will still continue to appear as a bright orange-reddish bright star near the red giant star, Aldebaran (the Eye of the Bull) in the Constellation Taurus on the edge of the Hyades Star Cluster.
At present, the position of Mars in the night sky puts it just above and between both the Hyades and Pleiades Star Clusters just outside of the Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) asterism as you can see in the photos I took earlier this evening and labeled.
You can easily find the stars of the Winter Hexagon by first finding the Winter Triangle asterism connecting the bright stars: Sirius, Procyon, and Betelgeuse. These three stars connect the Constellation Orion the Hunter with his two "dogs" the Constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor.
Using Sirius as a starting point, draw a line to the bright star, Rigel, in the Constellation Orion, then another line to Aldebaran and then another line north to the bright star, Capella in the Constellation Auriga the Charioteer -- the sixth brightest star in the night sky.
From there circle back around eastward drawing another line from Capella to the two twin stars Pullox and Castor in the Constellation Gemini the Twins, and then back down to Procyon at the start of the Winter Triangle and you have the Winter Circle/Hexagon.
For the rest of the year, Mars will appear just outside of the Winter Hexagon, but close enough to be an unofficial 8th star of the asterism.
Well I hope y'all enjoyed my photos for this evening. Please be sure to leave a comment, and as always have a wonderful evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.
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