How to spot the constellations Perseus and Auriga

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Northern Milky Way. Optical image of the Milky Way running through the northern constellations Cassiopeia, Perseus and Cepheus. North is at top. The Milky Way is the band of light crossing the sky formed from the millions of stars in the plane of our galaxy. Cassiopeia, the queen, is formed from the W of bright stars at centre right. Cepheus, the king, is at upper right. At lower right is the constellation Andromeda, the princess. At lower left is Perseus. These constellations represent a story from ancient Greek mythology in which Perseus rescued Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, from a monster. — ECKHARD SLAWIK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

THIS week we will be looking for two important constellations that are prominent in the skies around the world during February. They were both named after figures in Greek mythology: Perseus the hero and Auriga the charioteer. They will be visible for most of the evening in the northern hemisphere, but only for an hour or two after sunset in the southern hemisphere, where you should look in a northerly direction.

Perseus (pictured above) is one of the biggest constellations in the night sky. Its namesake was said to have saved Andromeda from being sacrificed to the sea monster Cetus,…

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