HOW TO SEE THE HYADES STAR CLUSTER
WHEN: JANUARY-FEBRUARY
Go outside on a clear, dark night and look towards the south to locate the three stars of similar brightness in a line forming Orion’s Belt. This distinctive arrangement is an excellent signpost for finding other sky targets. Follow the line it makes down and left as seen from the UK, to arrive at bright Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky. Follow the belt line in the opposite direction to arrive at Aldebaran, a star marking the red eye of Taurus, the Bull. The bull’s face is represented by the sideways V-shaped pattern of stars next to Aldebaran: the Hyades open cluster.
The Hyades is the closest open cluster to Earth, an open cluster being a group of stars formed out of the same gas cloud. It’s 1›3 light-years away from us, a little over twice the 6› light-year distance of red-giant Aldebaran. Although Aldebaran looks to be part of the Hyades cluster, this is just a line-ofsight effect. If you have keen eyesight or the use of binoculars, look along the mid-point of the southern arm of the
Hyades and you’ll find the lovely double star, Theta-1 and Theta-➤ Tauri. Again, these stars aren’t linked by gravity, their double nature is simply a line-of- sight effect. In reality, Theta-1 is sits 1›➤ light-years away from us, and Theta-➤ 1›7 light-years.
The southern arm of the Hyades marks the approximate passage of a faint comet during early February. To see comet 144P/Kushida you’ll need at least a small telescope or possibly large binoculars. Although dim, the comet’s movement along this part of the sky does make it easy to find, so if you have access to a telescope give it a go. It’ll probably look like a faint smudge; its apparent movement along the southern arm of the Hyades is obvious from one night to the next.