Winter Constellations to See in the Night Sky

Ever notice that some stars only appear at certain times of the year?

Here are some of the constellations we can only see in the winter up here in the Northern Hemisphere winters.

Why constellations are seasonal

Constellations aren’t technically seasonal at all. They don’t move like the planets in our solar system, they don’t orbit us like the moon does, and if they winked out or went supernova, we likely wouldn’t know for another few million years, because, you know, science, light speed, parsecs and so on. 

Space, man.  

Constellations appear in different places in our night sky depending on where the Earth is placed relative to the sun. We obviously can’t see any of the stars “behind” the sun as we orbit our own star, but after a few months when the planet has travelled halfway around the sun, we can see those stars since we’d be in between them and our sun. 

Take the constellations in the Zodiac, for example, as they follow the exact same logic. If we were to draw a line straight from Earth through the center of the sun, that line would point to different constellations at different times of the year. That’s why we have different Zodiac constellations marking different times throughout the year! 

All that is to say that there are some constellations we just absolutely cannot see unless we are in just the right spot in our orbit around the sun. And with the added axial tilt of our sweet little planet, there are some constellations that those of us in the northern hemisphere might never see at all.

Winter constellations to see in the Northern Hemisphere

There are around seven constellations that are most associated with winter months here in the northern hemisphere. These constellations are made from bright stars that are easy to spot, so if you head out to stargaze away from city lights, then you’ll be able to spot these constellations easily without having to use binoculars or a telescope.

Orion

Orion is one of the easier constellations to recognize, thanks to its signature belt of three stars nearly perfectly in line with each other. 

The famous constellation is named after a hunter in Greek mythology of the same name, since the pattern of the surrounding stars appear to depict a hunter brandishing a bow and club, as well as a sweet belt that's totally out of this world. 

If you do have binoculars, take a peek at the smaller line of three stars hanging to the side of the belt, commonly referred to as Orion’s Sword. The middle star in that smaller belt is not really a star at all, and with a decent set of binoculars you can see that the slightly fuzzy-looking star is really the Orion Nebula! 

Canis Major

Canis Major translates quite literally to “greater dog,” which just shows how humanity’s most endearing quality is to see dog-shaped things in nature and say “hey, that kinda looks like a dog, doesn’t it?” 

This constellation makes a stick-figure shape, sans head, located just south-east of Orion.  A large, bright star named Sirius connects the front legs to the torso of the stellar pup, and it also happens to be the brightest star in the whole night sky!

Taurus

This Zodiac constellation is located just north-east of Orion and fairly easy to spot. Six stars form a fairly lumpy V shape whose arms extend to two brighter stars up ahead.  

Taurus is close to a few significant star clusters like the Pleiades and the Hyades, all of which can be examined more closely with some binoculars.

Perseus

The Perseus constellation is named for the Greek mythological hero who was famous for his many adventures throughout the Greek World.

Though his figure is not as distinct as, say, Orion’s, Perseus’ constellation is recognizable by the fishhook shape located just above Taurus. This constellation is also the origin point of the famous Perseids meteor shower, which is the largest and most impressive of meteor showers annually!

Gemini

The Gemini constellation resembles two stick figures side-by-side, which is why the pattern was named after famous twins Castor and Pollux from Greek mythology, both of which are the names of the bright stars making up the figures’ heads.

There are several cool deep-space objects in and around Gemini, including the very first object photographed by the Hubble Telescope in 1999, the Eskimo Nebula! 

Cetus

Fun fact: this sea-monster-shaped constellation takes up nearly 3% of the sky, making it the fourth-largest constellation we can see from little ol’ Earth. 

Though Cetus in all its entirety is a little trickier to spot among the stars, it’s worth taking the time to locate the pattern because of all the nifty space objects located within. A good pair of binoculars can locate M77, a large spiral galaxy with a distinct, bright center that’s located within Cetus. Three meteor showers originate from Cetus throughout the year: the October Cetids, the Omicron Cetids and the Eta Cetids, all of which can be spotted in rural, dark areas in the darkest hour of the morn.

Eridanus

Known as the Celestial River for its long, winding path across the night sky, Eridanus extends from Orion’s right foot and is home to three meteor showers, several notable stars and a few faint but impressive nebulas, dust clouds and star clusters, all of which can be seen with a small telescope!

Bundle up and head outside this winter to see these impressive constellations shimmering in our night sky!

Pin it!

Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/Pexels