Let’s make 2024 the year that you master the constellations! Katrin Raynor guides you through the changing star regions you’ll be able to see in the night sky as we progress through the four seasons
With its clear skies and long, dark nights, winter is the perfect time to get acquainted with the constellations. Constellations – those areas of the sky named after mythological creatures, animals or objects – don’t need binoculars or a telescope to be seen. Their major stars are easy to make out just using your eyes from any reasonably dark site.
As the year progresses, the constellations gradually shift their position in the sky. That’s because as Earth spins on its axis to give us day and night, it’s also orbiting around the Sun to give us the seasons. That orbit changes our view of the night sky as we look out at different parts of the Universe throughout the year.
This guide will tell you the best constellations to look out for, season by season. Before you begin, learn your compass points, allow your eyes to adjust to the dark for 20 minutes and take a red torch with you to read this guide outside.
Winter
Where to look: Towards the south
Time: January to March, after 9pm
The most prominent constellation in the winter sky is Orion, a mythological hunter holding a club and shield. Orion is easily identified by three stars – Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka – positioned in a straight line forming the asterism of Orion’s Belt. Allow your gaze to drift above Alnitak to settle upon red supergiant Betelgeuse, which marks Orion’s left shoulder. From here, draw an imaginary diagonal line downwards with your eyes through Alnilam (the middle star in Orion’s Belt) to reach bright, blue supergiant star Rigel, the point of Orion’s left heel.
The constellation of Gemini, the Twins, borders Orion’s raised arm. To find Castor and Pollux, two prominent stars that form the heads of the Twins, follow an imaginary line through from Rigel to Betelgeuse. Keep going until your eyes settle on a pair of bright stars close together.
Westwards, to the right of Betelgeuse and past Orion’s shoulder, is Aldebaran, a glowing orange star also known as the Eye of the Bull because of the constellation it’s in: Taurus, the Bull. In your peripheral vision, yo
