Although it sounds like the more comfortable and cooler version of The battle of the network stars, “Winter Star Circle” is actually something that takes place in the night sky, instead of in the fields of Pepperdine University in California. (OK, technically it’s just called the “Winter Circle” – or “Winter Hexagon” – but it’s made up of stars.) Here’s what the Winter Circle is and how to see it in the coming nights.
What is the Winter Circle?
Basically, it is a collection of the brightest stars exposed in winter in the northern hemisphere (so, in summer in the southern hemisphere). Conformable EarthSky, The winter circle is not a constellation, but rather a “asterism, Or “a prominent group of stars that form a pattern so visible that it has a separate name.”
Also, as you probably guessed by its other name – Winter Hexagon – Winter Circle is not a perfect circle. So why the name? “From our northern hemisphere locations, the same bright stars can be seen before dawn each late summer and early fall,” the explains the EarthSky team. “And they can be seen in the evening every winter. Hence the name Winter Circle ”.
How to find the Winter Circle
As it turns out, tonight – as well as Monday and Tuesday night – gibbous moon rise will be inside the Winter Circle, making detection easier than usual. It becomes visible in the evening and usually stays around until well after midnight.
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But if it’s too cold to go out for the next three nights, you can still see the Winter Circle for the rest of the season – you’ll just have to find it using constellations instead of the moon. Here’s how to do it, on EarthSky:
To find the hexagon or winter circle, first find the easily recognizable constellation Orion. The three stars in the belt give it. Then look at the bright blue star in the lower right. This star is Rigel, the southwest corner of the Winter Circle and the first of the six stars in the Hexagon. Rigel is the brightest star in Orion and the seventh brightest star in the night sky.
Draw a line through the stars of the Orion Belt up to find Aldebaran, the red eye in the constellation Taurus Taurus. Aldebaran is the second star in the Hexagon and the brightest star in Taurus. Aldebaran is the fourteenth brightest star in the sky.
Continue uphill clockwise to find the next bright star, Capella. Capella, the third star of our journey and the northernmost point of the winter Hexagon, is the sixth brightest star in the sky.
Anyway, don’t forget to pack!