Aldebaran

Aldebaran is an orange-red giant in the constellation of Taurus the bull and is sometimes coined as the bull's bloodshot eye.

It can seen due south in mid-December in the northern hemisphere and can be found by using Orions's Belt as a pointer and drawing an imaginary line that points north-west from the belt.

Procyon

Procyon is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor and at only 11.4 light years[1] distance it is one of the closest of bright stars. Procyon is actually a binary system with the larger, Procyon A, being a bright main-sequence star and Procyon B it's white dwarf companion.

Image: Procyon's position in Canis Minor

Procyon is one of three stars which form the asterism, the Winter Triangle.

References

[1] Brilliant Starsby Patrick Moore - ISBN 0-304-34903-8

Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant in the constellation of Orion. It's bright red colour and position as Orion's right shoulder make it unmistakable.

If you could place Betelgeuse where our Sun is it would engulf all of the planets up to and probably including Mars.

Image: At this small scale Betelgeuse dwarfs our Sun which appears as a small dot a few pixels wide.

Betelgeuse is one of three stars which form the asterism, the Winter Triangle.

Sirius

Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major, is the brightest star in the night sky. This is not however due to it's size or true brightness (it's absolute magnitude) but the fact Sirius is only 8.7 light years[1] from Earth which in astronomical terms is quite close.

Image: Sirius' poisition in Canis Major

Sirius is actually two stars, a binary system comprising of Sirius A (The Dog Star) a white main-sequence star and Sirius B (The Pup-Star), a white dwarf star.

In Britain, Sirius is best viewed in late winter and appears as a very bright blue-white star south-east of the constellation Orion and is one of three stars which form the asterism The Winter Triangle.

References

[1] Brilliant Starsby Patrick Moore - ISBN 0-304-34903-8

Vega

Vega is a brilliant blue-white star in the constellation Lyra, it is best viewed from northern latitudes in the summer months. Vega, along with the stars Deneb and Altair form the asterism The Summer Triangle. If you were able to view Vega close up it would look a bit like an egg (an oblate spheroid) this is because it's rapid rotation causes the star to bulge at it's equator and flatten at it's poles.

Capella

Capella is a close binary yellow giant star system in the constellation Auriga.

Altair

Altair is the alpha star of the constellation Aquila and is also one of the stars which form the asterism, the summer triangle.

Altair's rapid rotation rate causes the star to have an oblateness of around 14%.