Thinkin' About Space: The Hunter, The Dog and The Bull

Very soon, the star Betelgeuse — a red supergiant — will explode as a supernova so bright that it will be visible in broad daylight. After crushing most of its mass into heavy elements which are thrown out into the galaxy, the remaining mass will most likely collapse into a neutron star, a star so dense that a teaspoon weighs about 10-million tons. A star in Taurus did the same thing, exploding into what is now the Crab Nebula. In the center of the nebula, dubbed Messier 1, lies another neutron star that spins 30 times every second.

Sound scary?

Well, it’s a good thing that it is a couple million years off, and it’s hundreds of light-years away and won’t cause any damage.

At the current day and age, Betelgeuse is the ninth brightest star in the sky and forms the top left shoulder of Orion. It lies opposite the seventh brightest star Rigel, a blue supergiant. 

Betelgeuse and Rigel, along with Orion’s Belt and Nebula, make up one of the oldest and most recognizable constellations. Carvings dating back 35,000 years have depicted Orion's hourglass shape and all the prominent stars are distant enough that the overall constellation will remain the same for tens of thousands of years to come. This, however, excludes Orion’s Nebula, a region of gas and dust that is currently collapsing to form stars. It is one of the most studied star-forming regions in the galaxy, and its closeness and brightness allow it to be seen with the naked eye.

The brightest star in the sky can be found by following the stars in Orion’s Belt to the left. Sirius, the Dog Star, is also one of the closest stars to our fair solar system. Around late summer, Sirius can be seen rising just before the Sun, giving the name to the “dog days” of summer (It also doesn’t hurt that its constellation is named the Greater Dog). In the winter, Sirius forms an equilateral triangle in the sky with Procyon – the brightest in the Little Dog — and Betelgeuse. Now if you’re worried because I’ve said the name three times, the spelling is different and Michael Keaton probably isn’t going to show up at your house, no promises, though. 

Following Orion’s Belt to the right, the orange Aldebaran shines in Taurus as the eye of the Bull. At first look, Taurus is a V made up of five stars, but a sharp eye will see the star nearest Aldebaran is actually two stars. These are the brightest of an open cluster named the Hyades which through a telescope appears as three pairs of two stars. The Hyades is only outdone by the more famous Pleiades, a blue group of stars that looks almost like a very little Dipper (Please note this is not Ursa Minor). Also called the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades contain about six stars with the seventh “sister” being very close another.

Winter is one of the best times to stargaze. While this is because most biting bugs are dead and woodland creatures are hibernating (and therefore less likely to rustle in the woods right behind you in the dark), I feel it’s the constellations that cross the sky. Orion, Canis Major, and Taurus are among the brightest and most studied constellations and will remain so for many generations to come.

However, that is assuming Betelgeuse hasn’t blown up by then.

Ethan Gower is a sophomore studying astrophysics at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to know more about the winter night sky? Let Ethan know by emailing him at eg662511@ohio.edu or tweeting him at @ThinkinAbtSpace.