For January the obvious choice for constellation of the month is Orion, easily the most spectacular constellation in the night sky. Its most visible structure is a rough rectangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, and Saiph at the corners...with the center marked by the Belt: the three stars Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak. Orion can be found high in the southern evening sky, crossing the meridian this month around 9:00. South of the belt are a number of deep space objects, chief of them the Great Orion Nebula, designated as M42 and M43 from the Messier catalogue. As a kid I was taught that if you aim Orion's belt to the right (WNW) it roughly points toward Aldebaran, the brightest star in the zodiac constellation Taurus...aim to the left (ESE) and you find Sirius, the brightest star of the night sky, from the constellation Canis Minor. Sooner or later I'm going to get my new telescope assembled and I'm looking forward to examining Orion through it, especially that area with all the nebulae. The Greek letters you see on my above drawing are typically assigned to a constellation's stars, usually...but not always...in general order of brightness: for Orion Rigel, the brightest star, a blue supergiant, is "beta" while Betelgeuse, a red supergiant...though designated "alpha" is slightly dimmer. Both are more than 600 lightyears distant. The three Belt stars, all massive, are even farther away...
I've narrowed down my choice for February's constellation of the month to two prominent candidates: can you guess which ones they are...and what would your selection be?
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