Observation 3/26/11

Tonight at Astronomy Night, we observed the bright stars of the Winter sky begin to appear as the sun set. Starting with Sirius, the whole of the "Heavenly G" (Aldebaren, Capella, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Sirius, Rigel, and Betelgeuse) came into view, as well as the other first magnitude star, Canopus. To the northeast, part of the Big Dipper of Ursa Major was visible, which pointed the way to Polaris, the pole star. Through binoculars, I also observed the star clusters of Taurus (the Pleiades and the Hyades), as well as the faint glow of the Orion Nebula. The asterism of "the kids" in the constellation of Auriga was also observed.