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StarGazer
Each week most PBS stations air Star
Gazer with Jack Horkheimer, the world's first and only weekly TV series
on naked-eye astronomy. The images on this page illustrate the show for
the week of Monday,
February 26, 2001.
The Wonderful Birthday Stars of The Winter Triangle
The three bright stars in the Winter Triangle (Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse) are due south in late February and early March several hours after sunset.
Sirius is the brightest star in Canis Major (the Big Dog), and Procyon is the brightest star in Canis Minor (the Little Dog).
The inner red line on this diagram shows how big Sirius is compared to the sun, and the outer red line shows how big Procyon would be. A similar line cannot be shown for Betelgeuse, because it is more than 500 times as large as the sun!
Still want to know more?
Click here for an archive of the past shows.
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