The constellations, and what is in them

Fifty-four of the sky’s eighty-eight. Few of them look much like the thing they are named after. They are for finding your way: once you can pick out three or four, everything else in the sky is somewhere near one of them.

Which ones are up, and when

Grouped by the season they are highest in the evening, from north of the equator, and inside each season the brightest first.

Winter

Orion

The hunter; the three Belt stars point down to Sirius one way and up the other to orange Aldebaran, and on the same line again to the Pleiades. The sword below the Belt holds the Orion Nebula.

Canis Major

The big dog, carrying Sirius — the brightest star in the night sky.

Auriga

A big pentagon overhead in winter. Capella, its brightest star, is one of the brightest in the whole sky.

Canis Minor

The little dog is two stars, and that is all of it. The bright one is Procyon, which makes a big triangle with Sirius and Betelgeuse.

Eridanus low in the south, and partly below the horizon

The river flowing from Rigel’s doorstep (Cursa) down to brilliant Achernar; the Witch Head Nebula haunts its bank.

Taurus

The bull; find it by following Orion’s Belt up and to the right. It hosts the Pleiades, the Crab Nebula (near the horn-tip Zeta Tau), and bright Aldebaran as its eye.

Gemini

The twins Castor and Pollux; the Beehive Cluster, in Cancer, is about a third of the way from Pollux to Regulus.

Perseus

A bent line of stars between Cassiopeia’s W and the Pleiades. One of them, Algol, dims every two days and twenty-one hours.

Lepus

The hare crouching under Orion’s feet — a bow-tie of stars, right below Rigel.

Lynx

A long zigzag of faint stars between the Great Bear and Auriga. The astronomer who named it said you need the eyes of a lynx to see it, and he was not joking.

Dorado southern sky — never rises from northern Europe

The dolphinfish — the Large Magellanic Cloud spills across it.

Pictor southern sky — never rises from northern Europe

The painter’s easel; Beta Pictoris with its planet-forming disc is here.

Cancer

A faint crab between Leo and Gemini; the Beehive Cluster sits between the two “donkey” stars.

Monoceros

The unicorn, standing inside the winter triangle of Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse. Its stars are faint — this one needs a night away from streetlights.

Mensa southern sky — never rises from northern Europe

The Table Mountain — faint, but the Large Magellanic Cloud spills over its border with Dorado.

Spring

Ursa Major

Home of the Plough, the Big Dipper — the sky’s best signpost.

Carina southern sky — never rises from northern Europe

The keel of the old ship Argo; Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky, is here.

Centaurus low in the south, and partly below the horizon

The centaur holding the two Pointer stars (Alpha Centauri and Hadar) that aim at the Southern Cross; Centaurus A and Omega Centauri live here too.

Boötes

The kite shape anchored by Arcturus — found by arcing off the Plough’s handle.

Crux southern sky — never rises from northern Europe

The Southern Cross — with the dark Coalsack Nebula right beside it.

Virgo

Home of Spica, the Sombrero Galaxy, M87 and the whole Virgo galaxy cluster.

Leo

The lion, with its Sickle of stars; the Beehive Cluster, in Cancer, sits west of it.

Vela southern sky — never rises from northern Europe

The ship’s sail; the brown-dwarf pair Luhman 16 is here.

Corvus

The crow — a compact quadrilateral; the Antennae Galaxies hide beside it.

Musca southern sky — never rises from northern Europe

The fly, just south of the Southern Cross; the Coalsack darkens its border with Crux.

Canes Venatici

The hunting dogs under the Plough’s handle; the Whirlpool Galaxy lives here.

Coma Berenices

Berenice’s Hair — faint, but home to giant galaxy Malin 1.

Summer

Lyra

Vega plus a small parallelogram; the Ring Nebula hides between the two bottom stars.

Aquila

The eagle carrying Altair — the cowherd to Vega’s weaver girl in the Chinese Qixi story. Altair sits between two fainter stars in a short straight row, which is the quickest way to be sure you have found it.

Scorpius low in the south, and partly below the horizon

A real scorpion shape with red Antares as its heart and a curled stinger tail.

Cygnus

The Northern Cross flying down the Milky Way band, which runs right through it.

Sagittarius

The Teapot; the Lagoon Nebula sits in the “steam” above its spout, and the Milky Way’s centre (Sagittarius A*) lies just off the spout’s tip.

Ursa Minor

The Little Dipper; Polaris marks the tip of its handle.

Ophiuchus

The serpent-bearer; holds Gaia BH1 and Kepler’s Supernova, and Voyager 1 is heading its way.

Corona Borealis

A little half-circle between Boötes and Hercules — a crown lying on its side, with Alphecca as the jewel.

Draco

The dragon winding between the two Bears — long, faint, and up every night of the year. Thuban, in its tail, was the pole star when the pyramids were built.

Libra

The scales, between Virgo and Scorpius on the ecliptic — planets cross it regularly.

Serpens

The snake held by Ophiuchus, split in two; the Eagle Nebula (Pillars of Creation) is in its tail half.

Hercules

Find the Keystone; the great cluster M13 sits on its western edge.

Sagitta

The arrow, flying between Cygnus and Aquila along the Milky Way. It is the third-smallest constellation in the sky.

Delphinus

A tiny dolphin leaping out of the Milky Way: four stars in a diamond and one for the tail. Small, but once you have seen it you never lose it.

Corona Australis low in the south, and partly below the horizon

A faint southern crown; one of the nearest known neutron stars hides here.

Vulpecula

The little fox just south of Cygnus; the Dumbbell Nebula lives here.

Autumn

Aries

The ram — a small crooked line of stars on the ecliptic, so planets pass through it.

Cetus

A long, low sea monster south of Pisces, best on autumn evenings. Mira sits in its neck and is not always there: for only two or three months in every eleven is it bright enough to see without help, and the rest of the time no eye can find it.

Andromeda

The princess; hop Mirach → Mu → Nu to land on the Andromeda Galaxy. That is the short way in; the long way starts from the Great Square at Alpheratz and steps along to Mirach first.

Pegasus

The Great Square — the landing pad for autumn star-hopping. Its fourth corner, Alpheratz, is really Andromeda’s brightest star; 51 Pegasi sits just outside the western edge.

Cassiopeia

The bright W (or M) shape near Polaris; home of Tycho’s Supernova.

Cepheus

The house with the pointed roof, up all year beside Cassiopeia. Delta Cephei, next to Zeta at the bottom, swells and shrinks every five days — that beat is how the first distances to other galaxies were measured.

Capricornus

The sea goat — a wide arrowhead low in the autumn sky, on the planets’ road.

Aquarius

The water-bearer; the Helix Nebula (“Eye of God”) and TRAPPIST-1 are here.

Triangulum

A simple triangle; the Triangulum Galaxy floats beside it.

Pisces

The two fishes joined by a cord — faint, but the planets travel right through it.

Sculptor

A faint southern constellation; the Cartwheel Galaxy hides here.

How big they are on the sky

Star charts and guides give sizes and distances on the sky in degrees, and your own hand at arm’s length is a usable ruler.

Then try naming them

🌙 Plan an evening outsideEvery object, one by one