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tojiri89 t1_iwpaq9l wrote

Orion. I've it right in front of my balcony all winter :).

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Morning_Mitsuki t1_iwpfs33 wrote

Same, also one of the easiest for me to spot with naked eye. Idk why I find it calming tho

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PoppersOfCorn t1_iwp9yfv wrote

Centaurus, because it contains our nearest stellar neighbour and the largest known star cluster

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Wolfalisk318 t1_iwpasy3 wrote

I think Orion, owing in big part to the Orion Nebula. It's a special point of interest in the sky because it's a naked-eye, binocular, and telescopic object - the same thing yields three different experiences based on how you observe it.

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JackRagz t1_iwpbikv wrote

Cassiopeia. Because when I can’t see the Big Dipper, I can still find the North Star.

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No-Taste-6560 t1_iwp9zr3 wrote

The big dipper. It's the first one I recognised as a small child.

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Riegel_Haribo t1_iwpdy26 wrote

Mods will kick you out for commenting about asterisms in a constellation thread. ;)

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Competitive_Olive668 t1_iwpavj4 wrote

Orion due to the nebula inside it, and I have seen on both hemispheres.

Edit: alongside Ursa Major, easily recognisable and points to north star, and Cassiopeia easily recognisable, is it a wonky "W" or "M" though?

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Famous-Hurry1788 t1_iwphvzo wrote

Cygnus. It actually looks a bit like the animal it represents, and I can visualise it flying along the line of the Milky Way.

Also a very handy tool for finding targets, of which there are plenty in that area!

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Evcher t1_iwpa2bv wrote

the dippers because I can always recognize them

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EmergentSubject2336 t1_iwpinov wrote

Andromeda. It contains the Andromeda galaxy. And I can regularly see it at night. Second is Cygnus.

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Antares-777- t1_iwpr69x wrote

Scorpio, easily recognisable with that long tail and bright Antares in the middle.

Too bad here is barely visible and can't enjoy it in its full might.

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Arasteele t1_iwqlvoh wrote

I'll break with conventional norms and say the Little Dipper. That's right, the LITTLE Dipper. The big dipper can go bite buckets of fiddler crabs!

Reasons

Also called Ursa Minor. The little bear. As a Canadian I can tell you I would much rather fight a little bear than a big one. You'll want to trust me on this.

It is comprised of 7 stars. 7 is my favorite number. Polaris is one of two favorite stars. I'll leave you to wonder as to what the other might be.

Traditionally it has been important to navigation, particularly at sea, because of Polaris being the North Star. My dad, a former Seaman during WWII in the Merchant Navy, was the one who first drew my attention to the Little Dipper when I was a small boy in the 1960's. He sailed on munitions ships and oil tankers, all high prizes to the German Wolfpack submarines. It's a wonder I exist at all. How could Ursa Minor NOT be my favorite?

Call me a rebel, but there it is.

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dittybopper_05H t1_iwrjmey wrote

>He sailed on munitions ships and oil tankers, all high prizes to the German Wolfpack submarines.

High prizes, true, but for most of the war the Ubootwaffe sank an amazingly small percentage of ships. Something like 99% of the ships sailing to and from the British Isles managed to do so without being sunk over the entire course of the war.

Even at their height, the percentage sunk by U-boats was still just 5 or 6%. And that height wasn't very long lasting.

For all the talk about the German U-boats, it was US submarines in the Pacific that actually did what Germany was trying to do: Bleed the enemy merchant shipping fleet dry.

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Arasteele t1_iwrr8ef wrote

Many good points, and thanks for the input. However, many merch ships from many countries were in fact sunk. Canada saw over 1600 seamen lost. My dad could easily have been among them. According the bbc.co.uk 30,248 merchant seamen lost their lives during World War Two, a death rate that was higher proportionately than in any of the armed forces.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6652091.shtml

And high or low, I'm not sure percentages would really carry much weight with you when you're at sea during wartime, standing on a deck looking over the ocean, and you know there are giant metal torpedo-spitting sharks out there looking to ruin your day.

Allow me the one point of feeling lucky to be alive to have a favorite constellation.

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The_Kop_End t1_iwqc9co wrote

Do the Pleiades count? they are the first thing i look for.

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Klondike2022 t1_iwrd0it wrote

Orion or the Big Dipper. Just because they’re familiar and easy to spot.

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dittybopper_05H t1_iwrhkmk wrote

Gotta go with Orion. Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, Saiph, Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, along with M42, just make such a distinctive and recognizable pattern.

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ApachePrimeIsTheBest t1_iwsi26w wrote

Orion. Its easy to spot and you see the brightest stars in the sky. And sirius is also next to it.

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scumotheliar t1_iwtj54p wrote

Being in the Southern Hemisphere it has to be the Southern cross, it's the only one that makes any sense. We call Orion the saucepan, his belt is the base of the saucepan. You would struggle to find anyone who could point out any other constellation.

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