Beyond Bones

    April is the last month to see the full set of brilliant winter stars which now fill the western evening sky.  Dazzling Orion is in the southwest at dusk.  His three-starred belt is halfway between reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel.  Orion’s belt points rightward to Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull.  To Orion’s upper […]

  Jupiter is almost due south at dawn; it outshines all the stars we ever see at night.   Mars is in the south-southeast at dawn.   It brightens a little each morning as moves away from Jupiter and towards Saturn.    Saturn is in the southeast at dawn this month.     Venus is lost […]

      The Great Square of Pegasus sets in the western sky. Taurus, the Bull, is almost overhead.  Dazzling Orion, the Hunter is high in the southeast, with his two dogs behind him.  Sirius, the Big Dog Star, is the brightest star we ever see at night.  Leo, the Lion, rises in the east.  […]

  The Summer Triangle now shifts towards the west as the Great Square of Pegasus appears higher, approaching the zenith.  As the autumn ‘intermission’ in between the bright stars of summer and winter continues, Houstonians with a clear southern horizon can try to find a star that few Americans get to see.  Due south and […]