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Sirius is the sky’s brightest star. But sometimes bright planets outshine it. Orion’s Belt is your ticket to identifying Sirius.

Many know Orion’s Belt, a short, straight row of 3 stars. Orion’s Belt is considered a celestial bridge between the sky’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

How to use Orion’s Belt to find 4 bright stars – Betelgeuse and Rigel in Orion – Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull and Sirius in Canis Major.

Mercury’s greatest eastern elongation – its greatest distance from the sunset – is today. But how can you tell which object you’re seeing is Mercury?

Where do we live in the Milky Way galaxy? We lie between the major arms in a smaller spiral arm known as the Orion Arm. See diagrams here.

Orion the Hunter is one of the easiest constellations to identify thanks to Orion’s Belt, the 3 medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at his waist.

Blue-white Rigel shines as the brightest star in the constellation Orion the Hunter. It’s a hot massive star, that someday will explode as a supernova.

The brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter sky form the shape of the Winter Circle, or Hexagon, that will help you locate 6 constellations.

Apex of the sun shows the direction our solar system moves through space, toward the bright star Vega in the January night sky.

Look for the V-shape Hyades star cluster in Taurus the Bull in the evening sky. It represents the Face of the Bull and it’s beautiful in binoculars.

Deep-sky objects – including bright and dark nebulae, star clusters and distant galaxies – are favorite targets for amateur stargazers.

Entertain your friends on New Year’s Eve by showing them the New Year’s Star, the soon-to-be full supermoon and Jupiter. Sirius is highest at midnight.

You can see the Orion nebula as a fuzzy spot in the sky using just your eyes. It’s really a vast cloud in space where new stars are forming. Learn more.

Orion the Hunter may be the most recognizable constellation, visible from both hemispheres. It’s best in winter from the north and summer from the south.

In December, January and February, we look away from the Milky Way’s cloudy core toward the Orion spiral arm, with stars so bright they capture our attention.

Aldebaran is an enormous star that marks one of the eyes of Taurus the Bull. If placed where our sun is, its surface would pass the orbit of Mercury.

In November, the famous constellation Orion is back in the evening sky! Its most recognizable feature is its belt of 3 medium-bright stars.

The Pleiades star cluster – aka the 7 Sisters or M45 – is visible from almost every part of the globe. It looks like a tiny, misty dipper of stars.

Out late at night or before dawn? Look for the sky’s brightest star, Sirius, a brilliant beauty. You’ll know it’s Sirius if you see Orion’s Belt pointing to it.

If you see a bright star in the northeast on October evenings, twinkling with red and green flashes, it’s probably Capella. See sky charts here.