Winter Triangle

A group of three stars that shine prominently in winter skies as seen from the northern hemisphere of Earth. The brightest of the three is Sirius (the brightest star in the entire sky), which forms the tip of the southward-pointing triangle shape. Northwestwards from Sirius is red Betelgeuse on the shoulder of Orion, pointing the way to Taurus beyond. The third star lies to Sirius' northeast: yellow Procyon in Canis Minor. Together these three stars form an approximate equilateral triangle in the sky.

The Winter Triangle forms the southern and western part of a larger geometric asterism, the Winter Hexagon. This combines the three stars of the Triangle with Aldebaran in Taurus, Castor in Gemini and Capella in Auriga to stretch across a wide swathe of the northern winter sky.

The Winter Triangle also has counterparts in the spring and summer skies. The Spring Triangle consists of the stars Arcturus, Regulus and Spica, while in the Summer Triangle the three stars are Deneb, Vega and Altair. (There is no Autumn or Fall Triangle, though the Summer Triangle is visible until the autumn months and is sometimes given that name.)