On a cold and quiet winter night, the starry sky is bustling with activity. Numerous bright stars, clear and recognizable constellations, and wonderful deep sky celestial bodies... These are the unique charms of winter starry skies. The probability of clear weather in winter is high, and the stars are shining brightly. The stars and constellations are easy to recognize, making it an unmissable viewing season.
"Winter is the season with the most visible bright stars in a year. The 'Winter Triangle', which is composed of Sirius Canis, Nanhe-3 Canis and Betelgeuse Orion, is one of the representative patterns. It is located near the equator of the celestial sphere and can be seen almost throughout the Northern Hemisphere." Wang Kechao, director of science popularization at the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Sirius is the brightest star in the whole day, with an apparent magnitude of -1.46. After dark in late January, Sirius can be seen hanging high in the southeast of the sky. Nanhesan is the eighth brightest star in the sky, and Betelgeuse is also the top ten brightest star in the sky.
To the south of Sirius, there is the second brightest star in the sky, the Elder Star, which is bluish white in color. Wang Kechao introduced that although the Old Man Star is very bright, most northern observers cannot see it. Southern public can try to search for this star in the low altitude of the south around midnight in winter.
Sirius in the Winter Triangle has another "group" with Ariel in Orion, Ariel in Taurus, Ariel in Auriga, and Ariel in Gemini, forming an irregular hexagonal shape known as the "Winter Diamond". Among them, the star brightness rankings of Wuche'er and Rigel are sixth and seventh, respectively. The other two are both first-class stars.
The constellations that members of the "Winter Diamond" belong to almost encompass all the star constellations in the winter sky. Among them, Orion, which has 7 first-class stars, is the absolute protagonist. For the Northern Hemisphere, it can be seen in the southeast direction of the sky after winter night falls. Under the belt of Orion, a blurry light and shadow can be seen to the naked eye, which is the Orion Nebula. "It is composed of interstellar dust and gas, and is a place for breeding new stars," said Wang Kechao.
Taurus, located northwest of Orion, is also one of the representative constellations in the winter sky. Wang Kechao introduced that the Pleiades star cluster located at the back of Taurus is a beautiful open cluster composed of thousands of stars, with the brightest six or seven of them usually visible to the naked eye. After dark in winter, the Pleiades cluster is already hanging high in the eastern sky, making it very suitable for observation. In addition, there is the famous Crab Nebula in Taurus.
