January 3, 2011
If the universe seems cold from a distance, birthdays are part of its rebuttal.
Winter Hexagon Over Stagecoach Colorado
Birthday · January 3, 2011
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APOD published January 3, 2011. Credit: Jimmy Westlake (Colorado Mountain College). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
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 the winter 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 appear over darker Stagecoach, Colorado, USA.. 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 the Winter 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. Best Astronomy Images: APOD Editor to speak in Philadelphia and New York City this week
Image credit: Jimmy Westlake (Colorado Mountain College)