Sky Matters: Soak in the wonders of the night sky this December

Crisp cold nights, a touch of frost on the ground and the lure of a cosy fire might conspire to keep us indoors in December, but it really is worth popping your head outside, even for a few minutes, to soak in the wonders of the night sky.

This is the month for the king of constellations, majestic Orion, the Hunter. It is visible throughout the night, rising due east about 8pm, with the three bright stars in its belt providing a barely miss-able landmark. Orion can be seen even from urban areas, where light pollution makes other constellations hard to pick out.

To the top left of Orion’s belt is a bright, reddish star called Betelgeuse, a mammoth star nearing the end of its lifetime and which has swelled up to be so huge that it would engulf the Earth if placed where our Sun is.