• If you're up early, and have an unobstructed view to the east, be sure to look in that direction in the hour before dawn. You'll surely see the bright planets Venus and Jupiter, which returned to that part of the sky about a month ago and have put on a dazzling show for early-morning risers. And, if you look to the right of Venus and Jupiter along the eastern predawn horizon, you'll also find a familiar figure - a constellation that is always in this part of the sky on late summer mornings. It's the beautiful constellation Orion the Hunter - recently behind the sun as seen from our earthly vantage point - now as

cending once more in the east before sunrise.
• EarthSky's meteor shower guide for 2012
• The Hunter appears each northern winter as a mighty constellation arcing across the south during the evening hours. Many people see it then, and notice it, because the pattern of Orion's stars is so distinctive.
• But, at the crack of dawn in late summer, you can spot Orion in the east. Thus Orion has been called the ghost of the shimmering summer dawn. The Hunter rises on his side, with his three Belt stars - Mintaka, Alnitak and Alnilam - pointing straight up.
• Next year - in late July 2013 - Orion and Taurus will return to the morning sky but no planets will be in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull.
• Also, notice the star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus the Bull. It's said to be the Bull's fiery red eye. See the V-shaped pattern of stars around Aldebaran? This pattern represents the Bull's

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