Sky Guide January 2024
‘Warm summer nights are perfect for gazing, weather permitting, on a moonless night away from the light of cities and towns. From our nearby galactic neighbours of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to the stunning sight of star formation in the Orion Nebula and the giant gas planets of Jupiter and Saturn, there is so much to explore using the 2024 Australasian Sky Guide by Dr. Nick Lomb. ’
Constellations
Constellations are groups of stars that represent mythological figures, fanciful beasts or old scientific instruments. Some have been used for millennia as tools to share significant cultural stories and to track the passage of the weeks and months. Today, they also help astronomers delineate portions of the sky and locate astronomical objects. Those listed below have been selected for their visibility in the evening, 1-2 hours after sunset, as seen from the Southern Hemisphere.
Canis Major the Greater Dog and companion to Orion the hunter. The brightest star in the constellation, Sirius (also known as the Dog Star), is also the brightest in the night sky as it is close to us – only 8.7 light years away or about 82 million kilometres and 25 times brighter than the Sun. In about 64,000 years it will be seen as the southern polar star due to the Earth’s wobbling axis of rotation and the star’s motion.
Canis Minor the Lesser Dog, is an obscure and small constellation usually ignored in the search for its dominant companion, Canis Major. To find its one bright star, face north in March – April and look for Sirius in Canis Major. Roughly one hand span (with your hand at arm’s length) below Sirius is the bright star Procyon. And Procyon is just about all there is to the Lesser Dog! Like many constellations it looks nothing like its name. The star’s name comes from the Greek Prokyon meaning ‘before the Dog’ and indeed it does rise before bright Sirius and Canis Major from the latitudes of ancient Greece. Canis Minor and Canis Major together are Orion’s hunting dogs.
