I recall first learning the constellations as a young Boy Scout. It might have had something to do with a merit badge and I have a specific memory of spending a winter weekend at someone's lake cabin and going out on the ice after dark to study the heavens. Recently, the Pleiades has made the digital pages of The Platz.
Asterism - a prominent pattern or group of stars, typically assigned a popular name but smaller than a constellation.
The Winter Circle (Winter Hexagon) is a winter asterism formed by seven brightest stars that dominate the winter sky in the northern hemisphere. Included are Rigel in Orion, Aldebaran in Taurus, Capella in Auriga, Castor and Pollux in Gemini, Procyon in Canis Minor and Sirius in Canis Major.
Image credit Chris Vaughan Starry Nigh
Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, is known as the Dog Star. Procyon is known as the Little Dog Star. This is a fun time to watch for these stars as beginning tonight and for the following evenings the moon will be passing among them.
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