4 Winter 2011 Applegater
THE STARRY SIDE
Winter constellations
BY GREELEY WELLS
Although it’s been cold for months
now, the summer triangle’s last star Deneb
(the top of the Northern Cross) is just set-
ting in the NNW. It starts rising late in the
summer, so it is still here for us to admire
into fall and winter; it’s such a beauty!
Our old friend Orion is rising in the east
with his accompanying constellations I’ve
talked about each winter for years now.
Look at my illustration, and you’ll see
Orion with his dog, Canis Major, coming
up in the east. (When you look for Canis
Major in the sky, you’ll see his brightest
star Sirius fi rst, and then you will be able
to piece together the dog’s front legs; if it’s
really low you’ll have to wait for the back
leg and tail to rise.) Out ahead of Orion,
you’ll fi rst fi nd Taurus—that little “V”—
and then that beautiful clump of stars
called the Pleiades, or the seven sisters.
During January, February and March,
these constellations move from easterly,
to directly overhead, to westerly in the sky
like clockwork. Having refreshed your
memory with these cold visions, let’s look
at some “lesser” constellations close by and
above this group.
Several interesting constellations
are found in a row, above the row of Orion
and his friends, and approximately parallel
to his signature three-in-a-row belt. Canis
Major, Orion’s large dog whose heart is
Sirius (the brightest star in the heavens),
has a younger dog above him called, not
surprisingly, the little dog or Canis Mi-
nor. He really has only one bright star,
Procyon; you’ll fi nd Canis Minor above
the big dog, almost aligned with Orion’s
two shoulder stars. Just to Procyon’s right
and (above Orion) are Polux and Castor,
the two stars that form the Gemini Twins’
heads. A few stars run down below them
to suggest their bodies, and each (sort of )
have feet very close to Orion. Further to
the right is another bright star, Capella,
which is part of Auriga the Charioteer.
To my eye, Auriga is really a fi ve-pointed
kite shape (technically, he shares a star
with Taurus). And if you’ve got a good
dark sky, you’ll notice that there are two
small triangles in this ‘kite’s’ edges, one at
the upper right and one at the lower left,
facing in opposite directions. No one ever
seems to mention the smaller, dimmer
triangle on the lower-left edge. However,
the upper-right triangle just below Capella
is supposed to be “the kids”—that is, baby
goats! So really the Charioteer is a herds-
man? A bit confusing… (In any case, to
me these triangles are cool—I guess that’s
because I’m an artist and I like that design
element.) Th e next constellation in this
line, moving from left to right, is our old
friend and hero Perseus, whose adventures
we talked about in the autumn.
So this winter, you don’t have to
look far to add a new list of constellations
to the ones you already know!
THE PLANETS
Jupiter has been rising higher and
higher, and has now come over the top due
Greeley Wells
south and is working his way down farther
and farther into the west until he disappears
completely by the end of March. We have
had a wonderful view of his closest pass to
us, which he does every 12 years. Th ere’s
a great opportunity to watch Jupiter dance
with Mercury (you’ll need binoculars) on
March 13-16, as Mercury starts lower/right
and moves up and above Jupiter. How far
the planets can move in a day!
Venus is January’s spectacular, high-
and-bright, early-morning “star.” During
February and March she sinks lower in the
east-southeast. Th e blinking star directly
below Venus is Antaries.
Mercury starts January in the morn-
ing below and to the left of Venus, then
drops into the morning sun during all of
February. He comes up in the sunset low,
so he’s hard to see until March 15, when
he’s just to the right of bright Jupiter (as
described above).
Mars is deep in the sunset and invis-
ible all winter.
Saturn starts rising in the middle
of the night, and is high in the dawn near
Spica. (In February Spica is below Saturn.)
March fi nds Saturn rising during twilight
and quite high up by midnight, with Spica
still below it.
OF SPECIAL NOTE
The equinox marks the start of
spring, on March 20.
A special treat for you sunrise folks
occurs on February 27-March 1, as a
beautiful waxing crescent moon passes by
Venus. Th is is a good opportunity to watch
the motion of the moon for three nights in
a row, with a reference point to help you
track its movement.
Upcoming full moons occur on
January 19 (called the Moon After Yule or
the Old Moon); February 17 (the Wolf,
Snow or Hunger Moon); and March 19
(the Lenten, Sap, Crow or Worm Moon).
greeley wells
541-840-5700
greeley@greeley.me
Note: For a personal story by greeley log on to
our website at www.applegater.org, see Polio,
an awakening: A personal story
Webinar:
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January 18, 2011 from 10:30 am to 11:30 am (PST)
http://www.elearning.nnfp.org/
Presented by Neil Schroeder and Tom Nygren, the Oregon Woodland Co-op,
and Lita Buttolph, Institute for Culture and Ecology
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Lita Buttolph of the Institute for Culture and Ecology will describe the support services,
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To register, go to http://www.elearning.nnfp.org/. For more information, con-
tact Lita Buttolph with the Institute for Culture and Ecology at lbuttolph@ifcae.org or
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Bagley at the National Network of Forest Practitioners at scott@nnfp.org.