Aldebaran – brightest star in Taurus the Bull – is easy to spot at one tip of a V-shaped pattern of stars. If this star replaced our sun, its surface would extend almost to the orbit of Mercury.

It’s also sometimes called the autumn star for us in the Northern Hemisphere. In its large dark patch of sky, only Fomalhaut shines brightly. Here’s how to see it.

Altair is only 16.8 light-years from Earth, making it one of our closest stellar neighbors. At least 2 features of the star make it distinctive. For one thing, Altair needs only 10 hours to spin once on its axis, in contrast to roughly a month for our sun.

Although it’s not bright, 61 Cygni moves exceptionally rapidly against the background of more distant stars. Its motion reveals its nearness to Earth.