There’s almost always a notable cosmic event going on up in the night sky that’s worth seeing. This section of our website is your resource for DIY stargazing. Any time you want to know what’s happening up in the sky that’s worth seeing, check this page. We suggest that you download and print the current month Skymap to help you locate the featured cosmic objects.
Our featured asterism is the Winter Hexagon. An asterism is a noticeable pattern of stars that is not a constellation. The Winter Hexagon is made up of six of some of the brightest winter stars in the Northern Hemisphere. Once you find these six bright stars, you can use them to trace out their constellations. Printing out a star map will help you locate and identify these stars and constellations. Use the Skymaps.com link on our Home Page to print this month’s sky chart. We suggest that you order a planisphere to help find your way through the night sky. In addition, the Winter Hexagon has a smaller asterism inside it, called the Winter Triangle. Plus, this year, the bright planet Jupiter will be passing through the Winter Hexagon and it’s brighter than all of the stars in the night sky. All of the stars you see in the sky belong to our own Milky Way Galaxy. As you look at the Winter Hexagon ponder this thought. Within the hexagon lies more than 250 galaxies, with their owns stars, asterisms and constellations.
Click here to learn more about the Winter Hexagon from Marcy Curran at EarthSky.
If you’re interested in joining other stargazing enthusiasts and educators for public stargazing events, check out our section on Public Stargazing Events. You’ll get to observe celestial events through telescopes and other stargazing gear provided by Event Horizon and it’s members in attendance, which makes for a more vivid and memorable stargazing experience.
Artemis II Mission Updates
This is why we rehearse. The Artemis II launch was scheduled for a early February launce after what is called a wet dress rehearsal. A wet dress rehearsal is when NASA fuels the spacecraft before launch. Due to some minor leaks and a stuck pump, the launch date has been moved to March. The mission will send four astronauts around the moon and back. Did you know that in Greek mythology Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo?