Sky Watch 3 : 1st May - Using a planet to guide you

Venus has passed its brightest but still dominates the sky towards the west at dusk. We can use Venus to guide us easily to find a constellation that maybe you would not try to find. Have a look at the drawing I have made in the area of the sky just above Venus. The constellation shown is Auriga = the Charioteer. Like most constellations, they are very difficult to relate to their title. I was able to include a lion with the stars of Leo last week, but there is no way that I can place a charioteer with the stars shown for Auriga! 

This is one just to go out and view with your naked eye - but you need to wait until it is dark and the stars are shining. Auriga is a large constellation and is seen for many months of the year. By far the brightest star is Capella which is actually the 6th brightest star in the night sky. Capella is a yellow star, not unsimilar in colour to our Sun. The stars of the constellation form a large loop in the sky. Venus is just below the lower two stars of the constellation and helps to give you the scale of Auriga. Work your way up and left from Capella to the highest star. Then loop back down and left (as if it were 8 o’clock from the top star). Keep going round the loop anti clockwise and back to where you started with Capella. You will know that you have found Capella correctly because once your eyes are used to the dark (after about 10 minutes), you will be able to pick out 3 quite faint stars below Capella that form a thin triangle.

Capella is known as the Goat Star because the charioteer is holding a goat (as charioteers do)! The faint triangle is known as The Kids - a pair of young goats. You may be surprised to learn that the constellation of Gemini - the Twins (not far from Auriga) is not named that way because of human twins. Originally, the constellation of Gemini was around in the night sky when farmers who kept goats saw that their goat usually gave birth to their young in pairs/twins. Castor and Pollux (the twins of Greek and Roman mythology) that are used to name the two brightest stars of Gemini came much later.