Week of Sept. 1-7, 2019

I don't know about you folks, but I've had about enough of this blistering summer heat, and I'm thrilled to know that cooler temperatures aren't far off. Before you know it, many of us will be whining about the cold and the snow and wishing for the return of summer!

While such frigid conditions are hard to imagine this time of year — after all, the start of our Northern Hemisphere winter is still officially more than three months away — we can get a sneak preview of that season by gazing skyward. Early-morning risers can now see the glistening stars of wintertime by heading outdoors shortly before dawn.

The brightest star in the northeastern sky is Capella, sparkling like a jewel in the northwestern vertex of the constellation Auriga. Though Auriga represents a charioteer from ancient mythology, modern stargazers can probably best identify this figure as a pentagon of stars. Interestingly, the star on the opposite side of the pentagon from Capella, El Nath, is shared with its neighbor constellation Taurus, the bull.

Stargazers can connect its stars with lines to outline the form of a bull head and horns. Look for the bright reddish star Aldebaran that marks the bull's fiery red eye. And surrounding Aldebaran is a V-shaped cluster of stars known as the Hyades. In the lore of the ancients — from Greece all the way to China — the Hyades has been associated with wet and stormy weather; indeed, its name is said to come from an archaic Greek word meaning "to rain."

Only a mere 150 light-years away, the Hyades forms the nearest open star cluster to the Earth and is thought to be only about 660 million years old. Though it appears that Aldebaran is part of this cluster, it's only an illusion; Aldebaran lies less than half that distance away and appears in the foreground.

Riding on the back of the bull we find the Pleiades, more commonly known as the "Seven Sisters." This tiny cluster is less than 400 light-years away and may be between 50 and 100 million years old — a veritable cosmic youngster. On a dark night, look carefully at the Pleiades to see how many stars you can count. Most stargazers can count six or seven, though some with a very dark sky and excellent vision claim many more.

Below Taurus lies the brightest and most majestic of all constellations: Orion, the hunter, one of the few such groupings that actually resembles its namesake. Its two northernmost stars mark the shoulders of the celestial giant, and its two southernmost form his knees. Across his midsection appear three equally bright stars that trace a straight line outlining the hunter's belt.

To the hunter's left lies Gemini, the twins, marked by the two "twin" stars Castor and Pollux. And below Orion you'll find the star Sirius, the brightest of the night sky, twinkling wildly just above the horizon.

Of course, if you'd prefer to sleep in, you'll still be able to see this wonderful sky during evening hours, but you'll just need to be patient for a few more months!

Sneak a peek at the winter sky this week.

Visit Dennis Mammana at facebook.com/DennisMammana. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.