Night Sky Photography -- 02-01-2026 -- The Full Snow Moon After The Snowstorm

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Tonight, I captured some outstanding photos of February's full moon in the evening sky, along with a beautiful show of Jupiter and the bright star, Sirius, rising in the eastern sky between the recently snow-covered trees.

The February full moon is known as the Full Snow Moon here in North America -- a beautiful irony since it's a day following the bomb cyclone that hit the Carolinas; ushering in more snowfall that we usually see in these parts, even in the winter!

The first shot shows Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, with the bright twin stars, Castor and Pollux, close by. A close-up of Jupiter shows three of its four largest moons: Callisto, Ganymede, and Io. Europa, the fourth moon, was currently behind Jupiter in its rotation. Sirius, the Dog Star, is nearby further to the southeast clearly visible through the bare trees (a few of which still have snow on them).

The Full Snow Moon is hidden behind the trees for another hour before finally appearing in all her glory. The final shot is the close-up of our lovely full Luna.

A fun fact: because the month of February only has 28 days and the full moon on average only happens once every 29-30 days, there are years where there is no full moon in February! This only happens about once every 19 years, give or take. The last time that happened was in 2018. The next time February won’t have a full moon will be in 2037.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-20-2026 -- Jupiter Inside The Winter Circle

Late last night -- or early this morning, depending on how y'all look at it -- at about 90 minutes after midnight I captured a lovely shot of Jupiter inside the Winter Circle (also known as the Winter Hexagon) in the southwestern night sky.

Finding Jupiter for stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere will be easy this year. The 5th and largest planet in our Solar System will remain inside the Winter Circle in our night sky for the rest of winter 2026 in North America as its orbit will take it further inside the circle and will remain a part of the Constellation Gemini the Twins with the bright stars Castor and Pollux nearby.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-01-2026 -- Bright Winter Stars & First Moonrise Of The New Year!

Greetings & Happy New Year 2026 Y'all!

Like many folks across this wonderful world of ours, I stayed up to celebrate the New Year by counting down to midnight (12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, or EST) here in my home state of South Carolina on the United States eastern coast in North America.

After watching my neighborhood turn into a fireworks war zone for about half an hour (and in truth they continued to pop off sporadically until well after 1 a.m.) my eyes turned to the beautifully clear night sky dome overhead to see the beautiful bright stars of the Hyades Star Cluster which makes up the "horns" of the Constellation Taurus The Bull, the beautiful stars of the Constellation Orion The Hunter, and the smaller Winter Triangle asterisms -- along with a beautiful Waxing Full Moon and the planet Jupiter overhead.

I captured a good shot of all these from my front yard to share with y'all.

This is the first of what I hope will be many more night sky photographs I'll be presenting to y'all this year....God and clear skies permitting, of course.

Happy New Year!

Night Sky Photography -- 10-13-2024 -- Jupiter & Mars With Early Morning Winter Stars

Salutations once again, fellow stargazers!

Now that autumn here in North America is here, the morning skies overhead an hour before sunrise will begin to feature the stars and constellations of the Winter Circle, most of which will begin rising after about an hour before midnight the evening before.

Both the planets Mars and Jupiter can now be seen inside the Winter Circle with the Red Planet near the Constellation Gemini the Twins and Jupiter inside the Constellation Taurus the Bull.

Early this morning, I stepped outside and set up my tripod in the front yard, focusing my camera up at the two planets, as well as the brightest points of light near them, and took several very clear photographs. Because of the wonderfully clear morning sky overhead, I managed to capture not only our nearest planetary neighbors, but all the beautiful stars of four of the Winter Circle constellations -- as well as Sirius, the brightest star that can be seen from Earth.

In the first photo, I labeled both Mars and Jupiter, as well as all the major stars of the constellations around them and in the second I outlined the constellations themselves, including the location of the Winter Triangle asterism.

Looking up at those beautiful stars and planets in a clear autumn sky, its almost hard to imagine just how far away most of them are.

The closest of them, Mars, is actually over a hundred million miles from Earth at present and getting slightly closer as the planet moves in its orbit towards its opposition to Earth in January of 2025, and will appear to be getting even bigger in the early morning sky over the next couple of months. Even at its closest approach, Mars will only be about 60 million miles from Earth since this opposition puts the small planet will be near its aphelion, or the point farther away from the Sun in its orbit.

In my final photo of the post, I labeled not only the planets and the major stars and the location of the Orion Nebula, but I also added the exact distance from Earth to put into perspective just how massive our nearest galactic neighbors are. Also keep in mind most of those points of light that we see comes from light that took decades in most cases to reach our curious eyes.

With that in mind, I bid all of y'all a wonderful day. More evening photography will be coming soon, until then keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-02-2024 -- Let's Talk About The Stars Of The Winter Triangle

Good evening fellow stargazers, and Happy New Year 2024!

Late last night, under beautifully clear starry skies here in upstate South Carolina, I photographed the major stars of the Constellations Orion The Hunter and his two dogs: Canis Major (The Greater Dog) and Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog) highlighting the position of the Winter Triangle that connects these three constellations.

For those of y'all who follow my night sky photography here on this blog site, you should be more than familiar with the Winter Triangle asterism. I've taken and outlined the three major stars that make up the Winter Triangle and their positions among their star constellations on several occasions.

Now that the winter season is in full swing here in North America, this is the best time of the year to talk about the three major stars of the Winter Triangle and some really interesting facts about these heavenly bodies.

One major fact about these stars is that all of them are much larger than our own bright yellow Sun. Two of the stars are almost double the size of the Sun and the final one is so large it would engulf half of our Solar System itself.

Let's begin with Sirius, the largest star in the Winter Triangle -- as well as the largest and brightest star visible in the night sky from here on the surface of the Earth.

Sirius (actual designation among astronomers by the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris, or a Canis Majoris) is a bright bluish main-sequence star about twice the size of our own Sun and about 20 times as luminous. Its name is derived from the Greek word Seirios, meaning glowing. Sirius is nicknamed "The Dog Star" because of its position in the constellation Canis Major (The Greater Dog).

Sirius is also a binary star system, meaning there are in fact two stars. Bright Sirius A is the bright star visible here on Earth, while Sirius B is a smaller white dwarf companion that is barely visible through a good telescope. Sirius B (nicknamed "The Pup") is believed to be nearly the diameter of the Earth (7,500 miles, or 12,000 kilometers) and 10,000 times dimmer than Sirius A.

Both Sirius A and Sirius B orbit each other every 50 years at a distance of somewhere between 8.2 and 31.5 astronomical units -- roughly the distance between the planets Saturn and just between Neptune and Pluto in our own Solar System. At a distance of roughly 8.6 light-years, (or about 2.64 parsecs), the binary Sirius system is one of Earth's closest interstellar neighbors.

The next closest point of the Winter Triangle is the bright star Procyon (also known as Alpha Canis Minoris, or a Canis Minoris) in the smaller constellation Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog). The name is derived from the Greek word Prokyon, meaning "before the dog", since it seemingly precedes the "Dog Star" Sirius as it travels across the sky due to rotation of the Earth.

Procyon is relatively close to our Solar System at a distance of about 11.46 light-years (or 3.51 parsecs) from the Sun. Procyon is usually the 8th brightest star in the night sky, with the best magnitude for brightness around the middle of January every year.

Just like Sirius, Procyon is also a binary star system made up of two stars: Procyon A, which is a white main-sequence star; and Procyon B, which is a much smaller white dwarf star. Procyon A is estimated to be 1.4 times larger than our Sun, while Procyon B is just smaller than the Earth at about 5,300 miles (or 8,528 km). Both stars are separated by about 15 AUs -- about the distance between Saturn and Uranus in our Solar System -- and orbit each other once every 40 years.

Finally, we have the bright star, Betelgeuse, located in the upper part of the constellation Orion the Hunter. The name was derived from the Arabic phrase Yad al-Jawza' or "the hand of al-Jawza".

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star and the 10th brightest star in the night sky visible from the Earth's surface. Also known to astronomers as Alpha Orionis, or a Orionis, its the largest star in the constellation Orion as well as the largest in the Winter Triangle. It sits at a whopping 642 light-years (or, 40.6 million AUs) distance from the Sun.

Betelgeuse's diameter is approximately 760 million miles (or about 1.2 billion km, or 8.1 AU) across and is somewhere around 700 times as massive as the Sun. To put that in cosmic perspective, if Betelgeuse replaced our Sun in the Solar System, its circumference would engulf all of the four inner planets and the Asteroid Belt and would be just inside the orbit of Jupiter.

Despite being the largest star in the constellation, Betelgeuse is the second brightest star in Orion after the white supergiant star, Rigel, which sits near the bottom of the constellation. Although Betelgeuse is actually larger in terms of diameter, in terms of actual mass and energy output, Rigel is the king of Orion.

This huge red star is actually in the final stages of its life and is expected to become a supernova explosion at some point in the next 100,000 years.

So, when looking up at the winter constellations late at night over the next few months, really consider the size of those bright, beautiful points of light that make up the Winter Triangle.

Night Sky Photography -- 10-17/18-2023 -- The Winter Triangle Stars & Constellations In The Early Morning

Greetings fellow stargazers!

As we move past the middle of October here in South Carolina, the Winter Circle & Winter Triangle Stars and their constellations begin to return in the early morning sky. 

Over the course of two mornings, Tuesday the 17th and Wednesday the 18th, about 45 minutes hour before sunrise I was able to capture some great shots of the brightest stars of the Winter Triangle constellations: Orion The Hunter, Canis Major, and Canis Minor.

On Tuesday the 17th -- just about 35 minutes, or so, before sunrise -- I captured a really great early morning shot of all the major stars of the Constellation Orion, the bright beautiful star, Sirius (Canis Major), Procyon (Canis Minor), as well as the red giant star, Aldebaran (Taurus The Bull), in my photograph.

On Wednesday the 18th I was able to capture some slightly earlier shots that captured the Winter Triangle stars, and all the major stars of their constellations wonderfully. The Winter Triangle connects Orion and his two hunting dogs in the sky dome.

My final photograph is a wide shot showing the major stars of these constellations, along with those of Taurus The Bull, as well as the two major star clusters: The Hyades -- the head of the Bull -- and the Pleiades.

These stars will continue to be early morning stars in autumn for at least the next month, or so, before becoming the prominent evening and nighttime stars of the winter months here in North America once again.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-28-2023 -- How To Use The Constellation Orion As An Astronomical Signpost

Good Evening, fellow stargazers!

One of the coolest things about certain star constellations and asterisms that make up our evening sky dome is that they can be used to locate other nearby constellations and asterisms.

For example, in a previous post, I showed how one can use the Big Dipper to locate two of the major stars in the Spring Triangle and the Great Diamond asterisms.

This evening I took a few great photos of the major stars of the Constellation Orion the Hunter and his two dogs -- the constellations Canis Major The Greater Dog and Canis Minor The Lesser Dog.

Three of the major stars of these three separate constellations -- Betelgeuse in Orion, Procyon in Canis Minor, and Sirius in Canis Major -- form an equilateral triangle asterism in the evening sky called the Winter Triangle.

The Constellation Orion is the key to locating not only two dogs, but also the constellations Taurus The Bull and Gemini The Twins; as well as the Pleiades Star Cluster by following a series of lines using Orion as a starting point.

When you locate the asterism "Orion's Belt" in the sky dome, picture Orion The Hunter standing upright, with the stars Betelgeuse and Bellatrix marking out Orion's left and right shoulders, and Saiph and Rigel marking out his left and right feet.

Follow the three stars of Orion’s Belt down and to the left and draw line to find the bright star Sirius --The Dog Star -- in the Constellation Canis Major The Greater Dog.

Draw a line from Betelgeuse -- Orion's left shoulder -- and keep going to find a solitary bright star, Procyon in the Constellation Canis Minor The Lesser Dog. This line also serves as one of the three triangular lines of The Winter Triangle.

Draw a line from Rigel -- Orion's right foot -- up past Betelgeuse and keep going until you reach the two bright stars Castor and Pollux in the Constellation Gemini The Twins.

Going back to Orion’s Belt, your next target lies up and to the right, following the line of the belt to the bright reddish star Aldebaran in the Constellation Taurus the Bull. If you keep on following this line past Aldebaran, a short distance later you’ll reach the Pleiades Star Cluster (also known as the "Seven Sisters").

If you remember these easy steps, then finding all the major constellations and asterisms near Orion in the evening sky is simple.

Be sure to try it out and please let me know what y'all thought of this little presentation in the comments section below. As always have a wonderful evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-07-2023 -- The Full Worm Moon, The Hunter & His Dogs

This evening, I was blessed with clear skies and was able to capture some good shots of the March 2023 Full Moon -- or Full Worm Moon in North America -- in the evening just after 9 PM EST.

The title shot is the full moon with the foreground of the branches of the blossoming tree in my backyard. A nice little reminder that winter here in South Carolina is almost over (at least officially) and the spring equinox will be here in just two short weeks.

Here is a more clear shot of the full moon without any obstructions.

Now looking more towards the southern sky over the tree tops we can see three important winter constellations all connected by the Winter Triangle asterism: Orion The Hunter and his two dogs: "The Greater Dog" Canis Major and "The Lesser Dog" Canis Minor.

The Constellation Orion is easy to spot with the three stars of "Orion's Belt"  -- Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka -- forming the most easily recognizable asterism in the night sky. The Constellation Canis Major is probably the easiest to find because of the bright white star, Sirius -- the Dog Star -- shining brightly nearby.

Sirius and the star, Betelgeuse, that makes up Orion's shoulder, when joined by the other nearby bright star, Procyon, in the small Constellation Canis Minor, form a nearly perfect triangle-shaped asterism known as the Winter Triangle.

Night Sky Photography -- 02-27-2023 -- 1st Quarter Moon & Mars With Constellations Taurus and Orion

Good evening fellow stargazers!

After a couple of days with cloudy, dreary skies, this evening a surprisingly warm breeze for late February arrived and cleared the evening sky dome enough for your favorite blogger to capture a couple of beautiful images of the First Quarter Moon with the planet Mars a few hours after sunset.

Though the small red planet is dimming in brightness as it moves farther away in its orbit around the Sun with our Earth, Mars is still easily visible at night inside the Constellation Taurus The Bull.

Oh and speaking of Taurus and its famous hunter, the Constellation Orion The Hunter, thanks to the evening breeze and clear skies, I captured a couple of outstanding shots of all the major stars of both constellations. I labeled all of them and highlighted the constellations themselves in the next shots.

Once again my thanks to God for the beautiful clear skies and the heavenly display of the closest bright stars in our galaxy. I pray for clear skies again this Wednesday, March 1st when Jupiter and Venus will merge in conjunction in the western skies.

I hope to be able to post some beautiful shots of that meeting, but if I can't y'all can check it out for yourselves that evening just after sunset. Spotting the two "wandering stars" should not be hard.

Night Sky Photography -- 04-03-2022 -- Constellation Canis Major "The Greater Dog" & The Winter Triangle

Good evening, fellow Stargazers!

This evening I was able to capture a really good shot of all the major stars of the Constellation Canis Major "The Greater Dog" low in the southern sky about an hour, or so, after sunset. The second photo is a great shot of the Winter Triangle asterism.

Finding the Greater Dog is easy if you know where to look. Locate the three stars of the Winter Triangle: Betelgeuse (in the Constellation Orion), Procyon (in the Constellation Canis Minor), and Sirius -- the brightest star in Canis Major, as well as the brightest star in the night sky seen from Earth.

According to the stories, Canis Major and Canis Minor are the hunting dogs of Orion, and the Winter Triangle connects them.

The Winter Triangle surrounds most of the very faint Constellation Monoceros, although its brightest stars are fourth magnitude and hardly noticeable to the naked eye without a really good telescope lens.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-06-2022 -- The Constellations And Major Stars Of The Winter Circle In One Shot!

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.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-01-2022 -- Using Lines To Locate The Pleiades Star Cluster

Good evening, fellow stargazers!

At a distance of about 444 light years (give or take) the Pleiades Star Cluster -- also known as the "Seven Sisters" and Messier 45 -- is among the nearest star clusters to Earth an a lovely feature in the night sky, especially during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere.

This lovely asterism, which appears as a small, faint dipper of stars, is just visible to the naked eye, if you know where to look for it that is.

But how do you find it in the night sky?

Well, for the amateur stargazer, there is a very easy and fun way to locate the Pleiades using the main stars and asterisms of the nearby constellations.

Start with locating Sirius, the "Dog Star" in the Constellation Canis Major The Greater Dog. Sirius is easy to spot as the brightest star in the evening sky. It also serves as the bottom corner of the Winter Triangle asterism, along with the stars Procyon and Betelgeuse.

From there follow a line northwest between Sirius to the three stars of Orion's Belt -- the three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka in the Constellation Orion The Hunter.

From one end of Orion's Belt to the other, follow another line to the reddish star, Aldebaran, the "Eye of the Bull" in the Constellation Taurus The Bull.

From Aldebaran trace one more line northwest until you find the lovely Pleiades.

As y'all can see in my evening photos, I traced the lines from Sirius to the Pleiades. Its almost a straight line, more or less. Sirius and Aldebaran are both large enough stars to locate easily in the evening sky, and Orion's Belt is probably one of the easiest asterisms to notice.

Using them all as focal points for your line, locating the Seven Sisters is easy -- though you might want to wait at least an hour after sunset to spot them easily without the aid to a telescope, or a good pair of binoculars.

Be sure to try it out sometime. Let me know in the comments below if y'all enjoyed this presentation. Have a good evening and keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!

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.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-31-2022 -- Orion The Hunter & His Dogs In The Southeastern Sky

Good evening fellow stargazers!

This evening I have a couple of good photos of the Constellations Orion The Hunter and his two dogs, the Constellations Canis Minor and Canis Major in the southeastern sky.

The first shot I outlined the constellations main stars -- all of which I managed to capture in the darkness of the night sky over three hours after sunset.

The two major stars of the dogs are the bright star Sirius for Canis Major, and Procyon for Canis Minor. 

As I've mentioned before in previous posts, Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest non-planetary object in the sky dome after sunset. At a distance of 8.6 light-years (or 2.64 parsecs), Sirius is one of Earth's nearest neighbors. Sirius is actually a binary star system consisting of a main-sequence star, Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion star, Sirius B.

Procyon is the eight-brightest and makes up the smaller, two-star constellation, Canis Minor, the "Lesser Dog". Also a close neighbor relatively speaking, at a distance of just 11.46 light-years (or 3.51 parsecs) from our sun, Procyon is also part of a binary star system which consists of a larger star, Procyon A, in orbit with a faint white dwarf companion star, Procyon B.

According to some ancient mythology, Orion The Hunter is accompanied by his dogs in pursuit of Taurus The Bull through the night sky.

In my second photo, I outlined how easy it is for an amateur stargazer to locate both Sirius and the bright reddish star, Aldebaran "the Eye of the Bull" using Orion's Belt as a guide pointing towards both stars. Both are set in an almost completely straight line going to and from the three stars of the belt.

Both Procyon and Sirius, along with Betelgeuse in the Constellation Orion The Hunter, make up the Winter Triangle. The bright star Rigel and Aldebaran, along with Procyon and Sirius are four of the major stars that make up the Winter Hexagon. All of these are highlighted in my final photo.

I hope y'all enjoyed my photos for this evening, and as always keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!

Night Sky Photography -- 01-18-2022 -- The Major Stars Of Orion & The Winter Triangle

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Tonight, I have for your viewing pleasure a couple of really good shots of all the major stars in the Constellation Orion The Hunter rising in the southeastern sky just over the treetops about 50 minutes, or so, after sunset.

As you can see, in my first shot, I outlined all the bright visible major stars that make up the constellation, as well as the nearby bright star, Aldebaran, higher overhead. In my second photograph, I listed each of the major stars in the constellation, including the famous Orion Nebula circled just beneath Orion's Belt.

Located on the celestial equator, the Constellation Orion can be seen throughout the world and is clearly visible in the Northern Hemisphere in the night sky from about November to late February. The constellation is best recognized by the three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, which make up the asterism "Orion's Belt".

Two of the ten brightest stars in the night sky visible from Earth are located in the Constellation Orion: the blue-white supergiant star, Rigel, the 7th brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star in the constellation; and the reddish supergiant star, Betelgeuse, the 10th brightest star and the second brightest in Orion.

With the exception of the reddish supergiant, Betelgeuse, all of the main stars in the Constellation Orion are bright young blue-white giants, or supergiants, ranging in distance from the closest star, Bellatrix at about 245 light-years, to the furthest star, Alnilam at about 1,342 light-years away.

The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) appears as a slight white smudge beneath Orion's Belt and is located around 1,350 light-years away from Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light-years across and has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun, making it one of the most visible nebulae visible to the naked eye if you know where to look.

For my final night sky offering of the evening I had to wait a couple hours to get a better shot of Orion and the two major stars: Sirius and Procyon, which along with Betelgeuse, make up the Winter Triangle asterism -- outlined in blue.

The Winter Triangle is an imaginary equilateral triangle formed by three of the brightest stars in the night sky and largest stars in three major star constellations.

Sirius (also known as the "Dog Star") is the brightest star visible from Earth in the night sky and the major star of the Constellation Canis Major (Greater Dog). Procyon (sometimes called the "Little Dog Star") is the 8th brightest star in the night sky, and the major star of the Constellation Canis Minor (Lesser Dog). Both Sirius (at about 8.6 light-years away) and Procyon (about 11.4 light-years) are close cosmic neighbors to our Sun.

In Greek mythology, both dogs accompany Orion the hunter as he tracks Taurus the Bull through the heavens.

Well I hope y'all enjoyed this evening's night sky offerings and learned something pretty interesting about our heavenly neighbors.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-12-2022 -- The Moon, Pleiades, & Hyades Star Clusters

Good evening, y'all!

Well, my first night sky photographic offering of 2022 are ones I think y'all will thoroughly enjoy. They involve two beautiful star clusters: the Pleiades and the Hyades.

This evening several hours after sunset the Waxing Gibbous Moon could be seen with the faint Pleiades Star Cluster in the night sky.

The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) could be seen just outside of Luna's glare. I took one photo using the trunk of a tree to block out the Moon's glare and get what turned out to be a really beautiful shot of all of the major stars in the star cluster. The Pleiades are about 444 light-years away from our Sun.

My second photo is a wide shot with the tree in the foreground of the moon and Pleiades with three of the major stars of the Winter Hexagon asterism: Aldebaran, Rigel, and bright Sirius just visible in the corner of the photograph. Rigel, along with the stars Betelgeuse and Bellatrix are the three brightest in that order that make up the Constellation Orion The Hunter outlined in the photo.

The second star cluster visible with Luna in the night sky tonight is the V-shaped Hyades cluster, which makes up the "head" of the Constellation Taurus The Bull. The brightest star is Aldebaran: the Eye of the Bull. This cluster is easy to locate using the Orion's Belt asterism as a line to Aldebaran.

Although not a true member of the Hyades star cluster, the bright reddish star is a great guide to this cluster. Aldebaran is only about 65 light-years distant. The Hyades themselves are about 153 light-years distant, with Aldebaran in the light of sight between the cluster and our Sun.

In the Northern Hemisphere, both the Pleiades and the Hyades star clusters are best seen in the evening sky from around January to April. Both star clusters are made up of many more fainter stars that are not visible to the naked eye (especially closer to city lights) but can be seen with the aid of a telescope, binoculars, or a really good camera lens.

And finally, my last offering to start out 2022 is a pretty beautiful shot of our dear Luna in her Waxing Gibbous Phase.

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my offerings for the evening. Tomorrow evening, in the Northern Hemisphere, the moon's path with take it close to Aldebaran. Be sure to check it out -- clear skies permitting, of course.

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

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!

Night Sky Photography -- 01-12/14-2021 -- Constellations Orion & Taurus, The Winter Triangle, & The Winter Circle

Good evening, fellow Stargazers!

Over a couple of cloudless evening this month, I managed to get some really good shots of two of the winter month's most prominent star constellations: Orion The Hunter and Taurus The Bull.

The bright stars Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Procyon (the primary stars in the three constellations of Canis Major, Orion, and Canis Minor, respectively) make a triangle, which I mentioned before in previous blog posts is sometimes called the Winter Triangle asterism in the Northern Hemisphere. Betelgeuse makes up the "shoulder" of the Hunter. Follow the line of the three stars of Orion's belt to find Sirius The Dog Star. Procyon makes up the third corner of the triangle outlined in red in the photo.

Also pictured in the photo are the stars Aldebaran, Rigel, Pullox, and Castor which make up part of the larger Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) asterism, which I outlined in yellow. The star Capella which makes up the last star in the Winter Circle, is out of frame. Aldebaran is of course the major star of the Constellation Taurus, also known as the "Eye of the Bull".

These two constellations and the Winter Triangle and Winter Circle asterisms will remain prominent in the night sky throughout the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. Look for them rising in the east an hour after sunset.

Have a wonderful evening and please keep your eyes on the night skies, y'all!