In the southwest, the only bright star is
lonely Fomalhaut. Above Fomalhaut and to its
left is a large fish-shaped pattern with
several fairly bright stars - this is Cetus the
whale. Looking to the east, you can see dozens
of bright stars - these are the brilliant
winter constellations such as Taurus the bull
(look for the V-shaped Hyades and tiny
dipper-shaped Pleadies clusters here) and
Orion, with the three stars marking his belt.
Coming up in the northeast is Capella, the
bright star marking the pentagonal Auriga the
chariot driver.
Just east of straight
overhead, we can see the distinctive "W" which
betrays Cassiopeia the queen - to its left, an
inverted "Y" marks Perseus, which is our
featured constellation this month. To the
other side of Cassiopeia's "W" is a house
shaped pattern: her husband, king Cepheus.
To see the constellation names and read more
about them, click on the "Next" icon.