Winter constellation

As winter constellation in Europe is constellation referred to the evening winter sky can be seen well. In itself, the term applies to the entire northern hemisphere of the earth, while the same constellations south of the equator can be observed at the same time, but in the summer there.

The starry sky on winter evenings is the most beautiful of the year - because it shows 17 of the 30 brightest stars in the entire sky.

Well-known winter constellations

About 35% of the constellations visible in mid-northern latitudes can be described as winter constellations. At the edges they overlap with the spring and autumn constellations (without generic articles, because these constellations are relatively inconspicuous).

The most famous winter constellations include:

• Orion with his companions big and small dog (Canis major and minor), twins (Gemini), carter (Auriga) and bull (Taurus). Their main stars together form the so-called winter hexagon .
• some constellations to the right (west) of Orion: Aries (Aries), head of the whale (Cetus), Eridanus and hare (Lepus), and to the east the unicorn (Monoceros)
• near the zenith the constellations Perseus and Cassiopeia .