The Andromeda galaxy is the closest big galaxy to our Milky Way. Here are a couple of different ways to find it. Just be sure your sky is dark!

The constellation Cassiopeia the Queen has the distinct shape of a W or M. Find her in the north-northeast sky on September and October evenings.

The 2 outermost stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, the North Star.

You’ll find Orion and the bright star Sirius up before dawn now. They’ll be shifting into the evening sky as the months pass.

By late August and early September, the constellation Orion is rising in the hours after midnight and is well up by dawn. It’ll continue to rise earlier … and earlier.

A sign of the changing season, Sirius – the sky’s brightest star – is visible before sunup. You’ll know it’s Sirius if the very noticeable 3 stars in Orion’s Belt point to it.

If your sky is dark, you’ll enjoy locating these stars and using this method of finding the Andromeda galaxy.

Poor Ophiuchus. Nobody ever claims him as a “birth sign,” although the sun moves in front of his stars from about November 30 to December 18. Keep the big guy company. Find Ophiuchus in your sky tonight!

Scutum has only has 4 stars that make up the constellation outline, but it’s noticeable in a dark sky because a rich region of the Milky Way is behind it.

The sun passes in front of Ophiuchus each year from about November 30 to December 18.