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YOU have probably heard of the zodiac: 13 constellations that happen to fall along the path that Earth traces around the sun, known as the ecliptic. This means that each constellation can be seen from everywhere in the world at some point during the year.
Regardless of your opinion of astrology, you probably know your star sign. This is derived from the constellation the sun was 鈥渋n鈥� when you were born. In other words, it is the zodiacal constellation that was behind the sun at that time, meaning that on your birthday, this constellation is never visible in the night sky.
As I explained in week 1, the angle of Earth鈥檚 tilt is slowly moving, like a gyroscope. This means the position of Earth and the sun with respect to the stars changes as years go by. When the Babylonians invented their zodiac more than 2000 years ago, the dates when the constellations were behind the sun were different to what they are today.
This month, Taurus, along with several other zodiac constellations, is visible anywhere in the world. Taurus is one of the brightest of the zodiac, so it is possible to spot it no matter how much light pollution there is in your area. It also happens to be one of the most interesting constellations, because it is home to two star clusters, a meteor shower and a nebula.
To find Taurus, first find Orion. Look for the iconic three stars of Orion鈥檚 Belt, then continue that line on the belt from left to right until you reach a patch of sky with a bright star surrounded by a few dimmer stars. You have found Aldebaran, Taurus鈥檚 red giant, that sits 65 light years from Earth.
Aldebaran is part of a V-shaped group of stars that also contains the Hyades star cluster, though Aldebaran itself is much closer to Earth. The constellation is also home to the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters.
Taurus contains another interesting star: El Nath is 134 light years from Earth and the closest bright star to the edge of the Milky Way, from our point of view. This means it lies in the exact opposite direction to the galactic centre.
Taurus is also home to the Crab nebula, though you will need a telescope to see this in any detail. The Hubble Space Telescope has taken some great pictures of this remnant of a supernova explosion, documented as having lit up the sky in 1054.
Throughout most of this month, peaking on 12 November, look out for the Taurid meteor shower. These remnants of comet Encke aren鈥檛 that frequent, but can occasionally be very bright.
On 11 November, we are going to witness a rare event: Mercury is going to transit in front of the sun. Next week, I will have instructions for how to build your own viewer to watch the transit safely.
To download a printable version of the page click here.
For next week
Binoculars
Tripod
Cardboard
Paper
Starting next week: Stargazing series 2
1 Mercury transits the sun
Build a viewer to see the innermost planet
2 How to watch the Leonid meteor shower
3 Venus and Jupiter in conjunction
4 Mercury at its greatest elongation
5 How to see the Northern Lights
6 Find the Andromeda galaxy
7 How to see Santa (the ISS) on Christmas Eve
Stargazing at home online
Projects will be posted online each week at
Email: maker@newscientist.com
