Astronomy Minute

Back to Orion One Last Time — Winter is over and Orion is sinking in the west. Now is the time to star-hop to three locations on the east side. First, follow the three stars of his belt to the left to locate Sirius. The “Dog Star” is the brightest star in the sky. Next, draw a line from Rigel through Betelgeuse to find Castor and Pollux the Gemini twins. Lastly, look left from Betelgeuse to find Procyon which is the eighth brightest star in the sky. Procyon is from the Greek and means “before the dog.” It is so named because Procyon precedes Sirius over the eastern horizon. Happy viewing!

By Russ Hanson