Night Sky

Monoceros, The Unicorn

During the winter months, a set of well-known, bright, and relatively easy-to-find stars/constellations - Sirius/Canis Major, Rigel & Betelgeuse/Orion, Aldebaran/Hydra, Castor & Pollux/Gemini, and Procyon/Canis Minor - will be surrounding a relatively new and very faint constellation named Monoceros (a version of the Greek word "one-horned") or, more popularly, The Unicorn.

Unfortunately, the naked eye will need help to observe the medieval legend's rise in the early evening. Will my binoculars suffice in the search for Alpha Monocerotis, 175 light-years away, or Beta Monocerotis, a triple star system forming an arc of blue-white stars some 690 light-years away?

The Unicorn also contains the Rosette Nebula, a shell of gas surrounding a cluster of very young stars, and the dark Cone Nebula associated with the "Christmas Tree" cluster. However, a low-power field telescope is advised.

But, having clouds cover the sky is the biggest issue for those who "keep looking up." As for the next week, the jetstream forecasts indicate the evenings of 12/31/23 and 1/1/24 are the only times when a clear sky is likely, and going on a Unicorn safari with my binoculars makes sense.