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How to Find Aldebaran With the Big Dipper

Astronomers often utilize the Big Dipper, a large and recognizable portion of the Ursa Major constellation, as a sort of road map to locate other stars and constellations. By drawing imaginary lines through some of its stars and into space you can find several prominent stars such as Spica, Regulus, Polaris and others. One star the Big Dipper does not directly point to is Aldebaran, a very bright one in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. However, by using the Dipper you can find your way into Aldebaran's neighborhood, so to speak, and do the rest on your own.

Instructions

- 1
  Go outside in late fall or early winter. In the United States, this is the best time of year to do this, with 9 p.m. a perfect time in most locations. Choose a clear and moonless night for your best chance to find Aldebaran using this method.
- 2
  Look to the north and find the Big Dipper. Being a circumpolar constellation, it seems to circle that spot in the sky right over the Earth's North Pole. The Dipper will always be north. You will easily identify it by the seven stars that form the pattern of a colossal ladle in the sky. There are three stars that compose the ladle's "handle" and four that make up its "bowl."
- 3
  Find the very luminous star called Capella using the top two stars in the Big Dipper's bowl. Trace a line through the sky from the star where the Dipper's handle attaches to the bowl through the other "top" bowl star and follow this line until you come into the vicinity of a very bright star. This will be Capella, the sixth brightest star visible from Earth. It is part of the constellation Auriga. Keep in mind that the line will not pass exactly through Capella but will come close enough to it for you to find this star.
- 4
  Glance to the southeast of Capella and locate the Pleiades. Also called the Seven Sisters, this is an open star cluster of hundreds of stars. To you, looking without any optical aid such as binoculars, the Pleiades will appear as a miniature dipper made up of seven stars close together. You are now in the "neighborhood" of Aldebaran.
- 5
  Gaze a little bit to the southwest and find Taurus. The constellation has a distinct and unmistakable "V" shape; the ancient peoples regarded it as the head of a great bull. At the very end of the bottom side of the "V", you will notice a bright star with a slight yellowish hue. This is Aldebaran, which represents the eye of the bull.

Astronomy