Night Sky

For the last two nights, the sky has been very clear, at least in the South, which is where some of my favourite stars are located. The Orion constellation is probably one of the most recognizable systems in our night sky. When I was young I thought it looked like a circus horse, with a pointy hat and a fancy belt.

If you follow the line of Orion’s belt down, you can see the brightest star in the sky which is called Sirius and is part of the Canis Major constellation. Sirius has another quality which is unique and that is that it twinkles in different colours. I love to sit and watch as it cycles through the spectrum. The reason that it appears to change colour is that it is closer to the horizon and has more atmosphere to travel through. If it were a dimmer star, it could not be seen.

I take in these stars every chance I can because they are only visible during the Autumn and Winter months. During the Summer they are under the horizon or in the sky when the sun is out which makes them un-viewable.

Another surprise I found the other night was the red planet, Mars, which is located in the South East and is very red at the moment.

I've taken a picture from my astronomy program, showing Orion and Sirius.