Astronomy Picture Of The Day: December 27th offers the best natural planetarium of the year

 

#NASA, #Space, #astronomy, #διάστημα,

Βlack Hole@konstructivizm

December 27th offers the best natural planetarium of the year: 12 of the 15 brightest stars in the night sky are visible from mid-northern latitudes.

Leading the show is Sirius at magnitude -1.46 the brightest star in Earth's sky followed by Capella, Rigel, and Arcturus.

Winter constellations (Orion, Taurus, Gemini, Canis Major) dominate the evening, while summer stars (Vega, Altair, Deneb) linger in the west.

Add Jupiter at -2.7 and Saturn at +0.8, and you have a sky brighter than any planetarium can simulate.