Constellations of the northern sky

These constellations lie mostly north of the celestial equator and are best seen from the Northern Hemisphere.

Northern sky star map: all constellations around Polaris and the North Celestial Pole labeled, including Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Orion and the zodiac — Star map from the North Celestial Pole to 20° south

Free to use with credit: Atlas of the Sky (constellationmap.org), CC BY 4.0 · More

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<a href="https://constellationmap.org/northern-constellations/"><img src="https://constellationmap.org/img/constellations/northern-sky-constellation-map.png" alt="Northern sky star map: all constellations around Polaris and the North Celestial Pole labeled, including Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Orion and the zodiac" width="800" height="800" loading="lazy"></a>
<br><small><a href="https://constellationmap.org/northern-constellations/">Constellations of the northern sky</a> · Atlas of the Sky (constellationmap.org), <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a></small>

Constellations of the northern sky

On the celestial equator

Aquilathe Eagle

Canis Minorthe Little Dog

Cetusthe Whale (Sea Monster)

Monocerosthe Unicorn

Ophiuchusthe Serpent Bearer

Overview table

Click a column heading to sort.

Constellation	Meaning	Abbr.	Area (sq°)	Size rank	Brightest star	Hemisphere	Best month
Andromeda	the Chained Princess	And	722	19	Alpheratz	Northern	November
Aries	the Ram	Ari	441	39	Hamal	Northern	December
Auriga	the Charioteer	Aur	657	21	Capella	Northern	February
Boötes	the Herdsman	Boo	907	13	Arcturus	Northern	June
Camelopardalis	the Giraffe	Cam	757	18	β Camelopardalis	Northern	February
Cancer	the Crab	Cnc	506	31	Tarf	Northern	March
Canes Venatici	the Hunting Dogs	CVn	465	38	Cor Caroli	Northern	May
Cassiopeia	the Queen	Cas	598	25	Schedar	Northern	November
Cepheus	the King	Cep	589	27	Alderamin	Northern	October
Coma Berenices	Berenice's Hair	Com	387	42	β Comae Berenices	Northern	May
Corona Borealis	the Northern Crown	CrB	179	72	Alphecca	Northern	July
Cygnus	the Swan	Cyg	804	16	Deneb	Northern	September
Delphinus	the Dolphin	Del	189	69	Rotanev	Northern	September
Draco	the Dragon	Dra	1,083	8	Eltanin	Northern	July
Equuleus	the Little Horse	Equ	72	87	Kitalpha	Northern	September
Gemini	the Twins	Gem	514	30	Pollux	Northern	February
Hercules	the Hero Hercules	Her	1,225	5	Kornephoros	Northern	July
Lacerta	the Lizard	Lac	201	68	α Lacertae	Northern	October
Leo	the Lion	Leo	947	12	Regulus	Northern	April
Leo Minor	the Lesser Lion	LMi	232	64	Praecipua	Northern	April
Lynx	the Lynx	Lyn	545	28	α Lyncis	Northern	March
Lyra	the Lyre	Lyr	287	52	Vega	Northern	August
Pegasus	the Winged Horse	Peg	1,121	7	Enif	Northern	October
Perseus	the Hero Perseus	Per	615	24	Mirfak	Northern	December
Pisces	the Fishes	Psc	889	14	Alpherg	Northern	November
Sagitta	the Arrow	Sge	80	86	γ Sagittae	Northern	September
Taurus	the Bull	Tau	797	17	Aldebaran	Northern	January
Triangulum	the Triangle	Tri	132	79	β Trianguli	Northern	December
Ursa Major	the Great Bear	UMa	1,280	3	Alioth	Northern	April
Ursa Minor	the Little Bear	UMi	256	56	Polaris	Northern	June
Vulpecula	the Little Fox	Vul	268	55	Anser	Northern	September
Aquila	the Eagle	Aql	653	22	Altair	Equator	August
Canis Minor	the Little Dog	CMi	183	71	Procyon	Equator	February
Cetus	the Whale (Sea Monster)	Cet	1,231	4	Diphda	Equator	December
Monoceros	the Unicorn	Mon	482	35	α Monocerotis	Equator	February
Ophiuchus	the Serpent Bearer	Oph	948	11	Rasalhague	Equator	July
Orion	the Hunter	Ori	594	26	Rigel	Equator	January
Serpens	the Serpent	Ser	637	23	Unukalhai	Equator	July
Sextans	the Sextant	Sex	314	47	α Sextantis	Equator	April
Virgo	the Maiden	Vir	1,294	2	Spica	Equator	May

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Constellations of the northern sky

Constellations of the northern sky

On the celestial equator

Overview table

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