Hi, I'm Shannon Silverman, astrophysicist at the Clay center.

And welcome to Almost Heavens.

Here in West Virginia, we're just about halfway between the North Pole and the equator.

That means we are in the perfect spot to view everything the northern skies have to offer.

And even a little of the southern skies, too.

During the winter, there's no shortage of bright and distinct objects to look for in the night sky.

Not only are some of the brightest stars in both the northern and southern skies visible at this time of year, but currently there are several planets out as well.

Our brightest object is a planet, Jupiter, the largest of the planets in our solar system.

It can be seen a little to the northwest of Orion, and is distinctly brighter than anything else around it.

Now we'll be looking for a star.

Sirius, the brightest star of the entire night sky.

North or south.

Sirius can be easily found by following the three stars that make up Orion's belt in a diagonal line toward the horizon.

But this star is so bright that you can likely find it without any direction at all.

The next star on the list is Vega.

At this time of year.

Vega doesn't rise until very late at night, and it can be a little tricky to find in the winter.

However, if you're out after midnight and look to the northeast of the Big Dipper, Vega is a distinctly bright object, amongst other much fainter stars.

Capella is somewhat easier to find being near Orion.

Find Sirius, the draw a mental line to the north.

Keep going north and you may have to turn in place if you're looking up at the sky and look for a distinctive bright star like the others we found so far, Capella wil stand out amongst its neighbors.

The last star will search for tonight is Rigel, and it's much easier to spot.

Return to Orio and then look for Orion's feet, which are pointed at the horizon.

One will be much brighter than the other.

This bright star.

The left foot of Orion, is Rigel, an incredibly hot supergiant star.

There are, of course, many many more bright stars to find.

So once you've got these down, try taking a look around the night sky for some of the others.

If you're not sure wher to start, stick close to Orion.

Many bright stars including Beetlejuice, Procyon, Aldebaran, and Pollux are either in the constellation or very close nearby.

Thank you for joining.

Keep an eye out for more almost heavens on our channel and our socials.

Until next time.