Although it seems the most cozy and cool version of the Network battle stars, the “Circle of Winter Stars” is really something that takes place in the night sky, rather than the fields of Pepperdine University in California. (Okay, technically it’s just called “Winter Circle” or “Winter Hexagon”), but it’s made up of stars. Here’s what the winter circle is like and how to see it over the next few nights.
What is the Winter Circle?
It is basically a collection of the brightest stars on display during the winter in the northern hemisphere (hence the summer in the southern hemisphere). Seconds EarthSky, the Winter Circle is not a constellation, but a “asterism“, Or” prominent group of stars forming such a remarkable pattern that it has a different name. “
Also, as you may have guessed by its other name, the Winter Hexagon, the Winter Circle is not a perfect circle. So why the name? “From our northern hemisphere locations, these same bright stars can be seen before dawn every 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
It turns out that tonight, as well as Monday and Tuesday night, the crescent moon gibbous will be within the Winter Circle, facilitating the location of what is usual. It becomes visible in the evening and usually sticks until well into midnight.
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But if it’s too cold to go out for the next three nights, you’ll still be able to see the Winter Circle for the rest of the season; you just have to find it using constellations instead of the moon. Here’s how to do it. for EarthSky:
To find the hexagon or winter circle, you must first find the easily recognizable constellation of Orion. The three stars in the belt give it away. Then look at the bright blue star at the bottom 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 upwards to find Aldebaran, the red eye of the constellation Taurus the Ox. 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 counterclockwise to find the next bright star, Chapel. Capella, the third star of our journey and the northernmost point of the Winter Hexagon, is the sixth brightest star in the sky.
Either way, don’t forget to get together!