The Rambling Astronomer

One of the stars that form the Plough, an asterism in the much larger constellation of Ursa Major the Great Bear. However Dubhe is not just only one of the stars of the Plough it is one of the pointers that indicates the position of the North Star

Mirphak, or alpha Perseus is often overlooked in this constellation because it is Beta or Algol which normally attracts all the attention. Now you can find our more about the brightest star in Perseus

Kaus Australis or Epsilon Sagittarius is the first of out magnitude 1.8 stars. It is also the brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius and part of the famous teapot shape.

Although the name of this star might not be too familiar, its location will be known. It is one of the stars that forms the group of stars known as the Plough. It is one of the three stars in the handle of the Plough and is the closest of these three stars to the four stars that form the blade of the plough.

One of the rare type of Wolf Rayet stars, these are incredibly hot young stars that will end their lives as supernova. Gamma is one of the closest of the Wolf Rayet stars to the Sun

The brightest star in the constellation of Grus the Crane The name of the star Al Nair might not be too familiar to people in the northern hemisphere, but in the southern hemisphere this star Al Nair which is a fairly bright magnitude 1.7 star.

The first of the mag 1.7 stars, Miaplacidus is in the constellation of carina the keel, part of what was originally the largest constellation in the sky, Argo Navis.

The Geminids are now possibly the most spectacular meteor shower of the year. The Geminds like the Quadrantids are from the dust trail of an asteroid rather than a comet.

The Leonids meteor shower can produce spectacular meteor showers every 33 years when many thousands of meteors can be seen per hour. These are referred to as meteor storms.

The second meteor shower of the year in which we can see the remains of Halley's comet burnt up in the Earth's atmosphere