Learn the Night Sky

The First Constellations to Recognize in the Northern Hemisphere

Jan 9, 2009 Kelly Whitt

If you want to get started learning the night sky, the first step is to identify major constellations.

For observers in the Northern Hemisphere who wish to learn the stars and constellations, the first step is to become familiar with the easiest to recognize constellations, which change depending on what time of year it is. The following tips assume that any observer is heading outside an hour or so after sunset.

North Circumpolar Constellations

North circumpolar constellations never set for observers in the Northern Hemisphere due to their closeness to Polaris, the North Star. Best known is Ursa Major, with its recognizable asterism, the Big Dipper. All stars in the Big Dipper are relatively bright: three mark the handle and four mark the bowl. To see the whole shape of Ursa Major the Great Bear, look at the handle as a bear's tail, the bowl as the back half of the body, the hind legs extend down from the bottom of the bowl, and the rest of the body and triangular-shaped head extend off the front of the bowl.

Take the two bowl stars farthest from the handle and draw a line with them that extends above the top of the bowl until you reach a moderately bright star. This is Polaris, the North Star. It marks the last handle star in the Little Dipper, or Ursa Minor. Snaking in between the Big and Little Dippers is Draco the Dragon.

Two last easy-to-identify north circumpolar constellations lie on the opposite side of Polaris from the Big Dipper. The first is the house-shaped figure of Cepheus the King. Next to it is a W-shaped constellation known as Cassiopeia the Queen.

Winter Constellations in the Northern Hemisphere

The winter constellations are some of the easiest to recognize. Look east on winter nights for a row of three bright stars close together. This is Orion's belt. Orion, lying a bit sideways, consists of a large box around the belt stars making up his shoulders and knees, with the reddish Betelgeuse as the shoulder and the bluish Rigel the opposite knee.

Just below Orion and to the southeast is the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, which is part of the constellation Canis Major. On the opposite side of Orion is a V-shaped group of stars that marks the head of Taurus the Bull. The small cluster of stars just beyond that is the Pleiades, a part of Taurus. Just above Orion's shoulder star Betelgeuse are two fairly bright stars, Castor and Pollux. These are the heads in the constellation Gemini the Twins.

Summer Constellations in the Northern Hemisphere

Leo the Lion sets in the west in the summer. It is easily spotted as a backward question mark. Next look east and follow the curve of Big Dipper's handle to "arc to Arcturus," the brightest star in Bootes the Herdsman, and then continue to "speed on down to Spica," the brightest star in Virgo the Virgin.

For three more summer constellations, look farther east for three bright stars forming a large triangle. The star closest to overhead is Vega in the constellation Lyra. East of Vega and still rather high in the sky is Deneb in Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus the Swan looks like a giant cross and lies along the Milky Way. The last star in the Summer Triangle is closer to the southern horizon and is Altair in the constellation Aquila the Eagle.

Finally, look close to the southern horizon to spot a teapot shape, which makes up part of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. Sagittarius also lies on the Milky Way and when you look in the direction of Sagittarius, you are looking toward the center of our galaxy.

The copyright of the article Learn the Night Sky in Astronomy & Space is owned by Kelly Whitt. Permission to republish Learn the Night Sky in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

A Summer Night Sky

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