Winter constellations you can see from the UK

Last updated 4 November 2026

The main winter constellations visible from the UK are Orion, Taurus, Gemini, Auriga, Canis Major and Canis Minor. Look south-east to south on a clear evening between December and February. Orion's three-star Belt is the easiest place to start, and it points the way to Sirius, Aldebaran and the Pleiades.

When and where to look

• Time of year: Orion and his neighbours are rising in the east by late evening in November, best placed in the south on December, January and February evenings, and slipping into the west in March.
• Time of night: about 8pm to 10pm in midwinter is ideal: dark, and still early enough for children.
• Direction: face roughly south. Capella will be high overhead, the Plough standing on its handle in the north-east, and Cassiopeia high in the north-west.
• Moonlight: the bright winter stars shine through it, but the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula look far better on moonless nights; check our full Moon dates.

Why winter is the best season

Winter nights in Britain are long and fully dark by early evening, so you can stargaze before bedtime rather than at midnight. The winter sky also holds more bright stars than any other: eight of the sixteen brightest stars visible from the UK (Sirius, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, Pollux and Castor) sit in this one region. The price is cold and cloud, so wrap up and watch the Met Office forecast for clear spells.

Orion, the Hunter

Orion is the signpost of the winter sky. Find three equally bright stars in a short, straight line, the Belt. Above them are orange Betelgeuse (the hunter's shoulder) and Bellatrix; below are blue-white Rigel and Saiph (his knees). Hanging from the Belt is a fainter line of stars, the Sword, holding the misty patch of the Orion Nebula, a vast cloud of gas where new stars are forming about 1,300 light years away. Our Orion guide has more.

Taurus and the Pleiades

Follow the Belt up and to the right to Aldebaran, an orange giant about 65 light years away that marks the Bull's eye. It sits at one end of a V-shaped group, the Hyades, which forms the Bull's face. The Hyades is one of the nearest star clusters to the Sun, about 150 light years away; Aldebaran is not a member, just a much closer star in the same line of sight.

Keep going the same way to the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters: a tiny, tight, dipper-shaped cluster that looks like a fuzzy smudge at first glance. Most people can count six stars with the naked eye on a good night, binoculars show dozens, and the cluster is roughly 440 light years away.

Gemini, the Twins

Up and to the left of Orion, two bright stars side by side are Castor and Pollux, the Twins' heads. Pollux is slightly brighter and more orange, 34 light years away; Castor is whiter and about 51 light years away. Two roughly parallel lines of fainter stars run back towards Orion as the twins' bodies. Every December the Geminid meteor shower, usually the year's best, appears to come from near Castor.

Auriga, the Charioteer

Almost overhead on winter evenings is brilliant, yellowish Capella, the brightest star in Auriga, a lopsided pentagon of stars. From the UK Capella never sets, but winter is when it is highest and most impressive.

Canis Major and Canis Minor, Orion's Dogs

Follow the Belt down and to the left to Sirius, in Canis Major, the Great Dog: the brightest star in the night sky at magnitude −1.46. Low in the UK sky, it often twinkles hard and seems to flash colours as its light crosses a thick slice of atmosphere; our guide to why stars twinkle explains why.

To the left of Orion, roughly level with Betelgeuse, is Procyon in Canis Minor, the Little Dog. At 11 light years it is one of the nearest bright stars.

The Winter Hexagon

The Winter Hexagon, sometimes called the Winter Circle, is a huge ring of six bright stars from six constellations: Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Capella, Aldebaran and Rigel, with Betelgeuse inside it, a little off-centre. It spans a big piece of sky, so stand back and take in the whole thing rather than reaching for binoculars.

More on these and other bright stars: the brightest stars in the UK sky. And give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes in the dark, with a red torch for the chart: one look at a phone at full brightness resets your night vision.

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