The sky is never clearer than on a cold, starry midwinter night. It is on such occasions, thanks to winter's exceptional atmospheric transparency, that fainter stars can be seen throughout the sky. And the dazzling array of bright stars and constellations which dominate our late-evening skies are led by the brightest of all the star patterns: Orion the Mighty Hunter.
As darkness falls this month, we can watch Orion with giant strides climbing across the southeast part of the sky. He then arrives in full prominence — in pursuit of the Bull which backs steadily away from him — high toward the south at around 8 p.m. local time and then he descends to below the western horizon at around two the following morning, only to make the trip again the next night.
