Above Tonight

Which constellation should you look for first?

Three star patterns make good first targets: Orion, the Big Dipper and the Southern Cross. Which one you can see depends on where you are, the season and the hour. Pick the one that suits your sky, then find it on the free interactive sky map: on your phone, turn on Motion and move it around, and the map shows the figure where it stands.

Pick the one that suits your sky

Find Orion

Seen from both hemispheres. Orion is an evening landmark in northern winter and southern summer, roughly December to March, and you find it by the three stars of its Belt in a short, straight row. Search for “Orion” on the map.

Find the Big Dipper

Best from the Northern Hemisphere. Seven stars form a bowl and a handle inside the constellation Ursa Major, and far enough north the pattern never sets. From much of the Southern Hemisphere it stays below the horizon. Search for “Ursa Major” on the map.

Find the Southern Cross

Best from the Southern Hemisphere. Crux is a compact cross of four bright stars, and far enough south it never sets. From the northern tropics it can show low in the south; from most of the Northern Hemisphere it stays hidden. Search for “Crux” on the map.

Check one on the map before you go out

  1. Set the place and time. Choose where you will stand and when you plan to look. The map draws the sky for exactly that moment.
  2. Search for the constellation. The view turns to its figure. Select one of its stars to see the star's direction and height.
  3. Compare it with the horizon. The map also draws stars below the horizon, hidden by the Earth. A constellation is spread out, so part of it can be up while the rest is still below. Move the time forward or back to see when it rises.

What to expect outside

The lines on the map are one drawing convention; there are no lines in the sky. Start from the brightest stars of the figure and work outward. A figure turns as the night goes on, and it looks upside down from the other hemisphere, so match the stars' positions to each other rather than expecting the picture to stand upright.

The map shows where the stars are, not whether you will see them. It does not model cloud, haze, city light, trees or buildings. Fainter stars of a figure can disappear in a bright sky even when the pattern is above the horizon.

Questions people ask

Which constellation is easiest to find?

For most people, Orion in winter evenings, because its three Belt stars in a row are bright and distinctive. In the north, the Big Dipper is the easiest all year. In the south, the Southern Cross is. The right choice depends on your hemisphere, the season and the hour.

Can you see the same constellations from both hemispheres?

Some of them. Constellations near the celestial equator, such as Orion, can be seen from both. Those near a pole cannot: the Big Dipper is mostly a northern sight and the Southern Cross a southern one. Which stars are up also changes with the season and the hour.

Why does a constellation look upside down?

Because from the other hemisphere you view the same sky from the opposite side of the Earth, so a figure’s top and bottom swap. A figure also rotates as the night goes on. Orion, for example, stands the other way up in the south. Match the stars’ positions to each other, not the picture’s orientation.

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