Orion – winter sky over the Netherlands

by Sidney van den Boogaard

This is the winter sky above the centre of the Netherlands on 15 January at 22:00. You see the same sky in mid-December around midnight and in mid-February around 20:00, in Belgium and western Germany too. Orion stands in the south with Betelgeuse and Rigel, above it Taurus with Aldebaran and the Pleiades, and at lower left Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. The winter Milky Way runs through Auriga and Perseus. The Moon and planets are left out, so the chart stays true for years. For anyone who loves looking up in winter, or who learned Orion first. An ink-blue sky on ivory paper.

From the Night skies series: the real sky at a real moment. Nearly every star you can see with the naked eye on a dark evening sits in its true place, with the Milky Way and the constellations. The names are Latin and international, so the chart suits any home. Hold it above your head with the N to the north and it matches the sky, which is why east is on the left.

© Sidney van den Boogaard · Data: Yale Bright Star Catalogue (NASA HEASARC), NASA/JPL DE440. Milky Way adapted from ESO/S. Brunier (CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); ESO is not involved in this work and does not endorse it. Constellation lines: d3-celestial, under this licence:

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