{"id":38274,"date":"2024-01-06T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/d057e048-dd16-44b6-b001-b141864615da"},"modified":"2024-01-06T17:46:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T16:46:12","slug":"how-to-spot-two-legendary-dog-stars-in-the-night-sky-this-january","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/how-to-spot-two-legendary-dog-stars-in-the-night-sky-this-january\/","title":{"rendered":"How to spot two legendary dog stars in the night sky this January"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where to look to see Orion’s hunting hounds, the great and little dog constellations. <\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n <\/p>

Published: Saturday, 06 January 2024 at 16:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

There are several dogs represented in the night sky, the best known being Canis Major, the Great Dog. To spot it, start by finding its master, Orion<\/a> \u2013 specifically, the three belt stars at the centre of that constellation. Extend their line down and left (southeast) to arrive at Sirius, the alpha star of Canis Major.<\/p>

Known as the Dog Star, Sirius is a fairly close neighbour of the Sun<\/a>, located 8.6 light-years away (one light-year being the distance light, travelling at nearly 300,000km\/s, covers in a year \u2013 almost 10 trillion kilometres). <\/p>