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red star. Later at night, you'll find Orion in the southwest.
• You'll have all evening and then some to see the dazzling planet Jupiter and the starlit constellation Orion the Hunter. But to catch the waxing crescent moon - and especially the planet Mercury - you need to look low in the west-southwest sky, starting an hour or so after sunset. Once you spot the moon, look for Mercury beneath the moon and close to the horizon with the unaided eye or binoculars. At mid-northern latitudes, Mercury sets about one hour and 25 minutes after the sun.
• Even you miss Mercury and tonight's moon, be assured that dazzling Jupiter and Orion won't disappoint. Above Orion's Belt, you'll find one of the sky's most famous stars, ruddy-hued Betelgeuse. Kids especially like Betelgeuse, because its name sounds so much like "beetle juice." The movie by that same name perpetuated this pronunciation. But astronomers pronounce it differently. We say BET-el-jews.
• More on Betelgeuse: Will explode someday
• People have described this star as "somber" or sometimes "grandfatherly." That may be because of Betelgeuse's ruddy complexion, which, as a matter of fact, indicates that this star is well into the autumn of its years. But Betelgeuse is no ordinary red star. It's a magnificently rare red supergiant. According to Professor Jim Kaler - whose Stars website you should check out - there might be only one red supergiant star like Betelgeuse for every million or so stars in our Milky Way galaxy.
• Red Antares is similar to Betelgeuse
• By the way, at this time of year, Betelgeuse's constellation - Orion the Hunter - ascends to its highest point in the heavens in the evening, with the Hunter symboli (Continued on page 17)
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