February 14th, 2017, 8:40 p.m. local time
Despite the light pollution in my neighborhood, I have to admit that the wonders of the night sky are still aplenty for me, and sometimes offer wonderful surprises.
As I was scanning Orion both through my telescope and via unaided observing, I noticed something I had not before. Around Aldebaran, the brightest star of Taurus, were a whole bunch of dim stars. Usually I ignore Taurus, since its sole visible representative, Aldebaran, does not offer much, beyond gauging its relative spacing with everything else in that area of sky. But tonight, being clear and with no Moon and my eyes properly adjusted, I could see a number of stars in proximity, just to the West of Aldebaran.
This event made me realize that you should not take any part of the night sky for granted! I will try to do a better job studying my sky’s “empty” spaces.
