Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! 
With a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2017 January 23 
Winter Hexagon over Manla Reservoir 
 Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

Explanation: If you can find Orion, you might be able to find the Winter Hexagon. The Winter Hexagon involves some of the brightest stars visible, together forming a large and easily found pattern in thewinter sky of Earth's northern hemisphere. The stars involved can usually be identified even in the bright night skies of a big city, although here they appeared recently in dark skies above the Manla Reservoirin Tibet, China. The six stars that compose the Winter Hexagon are Aldebaran, Capella, Castor (and Pollux), Procyon, Rigel, and Sirius. Here, the band of our Milky Way Galaxy runs through the center of theWinter Hexagon, while the Pleiades open star cluster is visible just above. The Winter Hexagon asterism engulfs several constellations including much of the iconic steppingstone Orion.