Having past its zenith, the Great Winter Triangle starts appearing in the West as we wait for spring. This is a picture of the starry winter sky spreading out above the athletics field of NAOJ Mitaka Campus. The dome straight ahead holds the 50 centimeter diameter “50 Centimeter Telescope for Public Outreach.” NAOJ holds regular stargazing using this telescope twice a month. This telescope also consistently plays an important role in observations of things like comets and asteroids. It is a telescope that opens up to everyone the chance to see with their own eyes the light from a moment in the Universe.

Orion is visible in the middle of the picture. Betelgeuse (red) above and Rigel (white) below surround the horizontal line of three stars. The good color contrast between these two 1st magnitude stars is striking. Under the three stars known in mythology as the hunter’s belt, the picture also shows stars arranged like a sword hanging from the waist. These stars are known as “Komitsuboshi” (the Little Three Stars) in Japanese.

From Betelgeuse in Orion’s right shoulder, if you look to the east (left in this picture) you can find Sirius, the brightest star of all in the night sky, in the constellation Canis Major (lower) and Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor (upper). Connecting these three stars you draw “The Great Winter Triangle.” On the other hand, if you look to the west, between the red giant star Aldebaran and the young star cluster Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters in the West and as Subaru in Japan) you can see the very bright planet Jupiter which is shining in the constellation Taurus this year.

(Author: Seiichiro Naito (Public Relations Center, NAOJ))