The Winter Hexagon

Right now if you look up at the sky on a clear night from pretty much anywhere in the northern hemisphere you’ll find the winter hexagon. Depending on where you are, around 8pm-ish you’ll see the stars that make up this six-point polygon directly above.

A northern hemisphere winter asterism that appears most prominent between December and March and is pretty much visible in even the most light polluted areas. Made up of a series of the brightest stars visible in our night sky, Capella (from Auriga), Pollux (& it’s twin Castor from the Gemini constellation), Procyon (from Canis Minor), Sirius (the brightest star in our night sky and part of the constellation Canis Major), Rigel (from Orion) and Aldebaran (from Taurus).

I’ve been admiring this little group of stars this season. Looking for the 3 stars in Orion to point me to Sirius and seeing the moon occasionally makes it’s appearance with the group and Jupiter not too far west.