Aries

The Ram

A small, faint zodiac constellation made of a short bent line of stars, led by orange Hamal. Easy to find once you know it sits between Pegasus and the Pleiades.

Chart drawn as the sky looks when you face the constellation: north is up and east is to the left. Dot size shows brightness, and color hints at temperature. The connecting lines are one common stick figure; other traditions draw them differently.

Best season: Autumn
Best months: October through January, high in the south on autumn evenings
Visibility: Visible from everywhere in the United States
Abbreviation: Ari

How to find it

Find the Pleiades, the small misty dipper-shaped cluster in Taurus, then look to the right for a short, slightly bent line of stars.
Hamal is the brightest of them and the only one you can count on seeing from a suburb. Sheratan sits just next to it, and fainter Mesarthim completes the line.
On a dark night, the faint stars between Aries and the Great Square of Pegasus fill in the rest of the figure.

Brightest stars

Hamal (orange giant, the brightest star of the Ram)
Sheratan
Mesarthim (a close double star in small telescopes)

What to look for

The orange tint of Hamal compared with its paler neighbors.
How compact the pattern is. The three main stars fit inside roughly the width of your fist held at arm's length.

Binocular and telescope targets

Mesarthim: a close double star that splits into two equal white stars in a small telescope

Using it to find other things

Aries lies next to Taurus on the Pleiades side, so once you have the Pleiades you can walk straight over to Hamal.

About this constellation

Aries is one of the faintest of the zodiac constellations, but it is worth finding because the Sun, Moon, and planets all pass through the zodiac. When a bright planet sits near Hamal, you get an easy marker for the path they all follow.

Its three main stars form a short, slightly bent line. Hamal, the brightest, is an orange giant star; Sheratan and Mesarthim are white. Aries has few showpiece objects, so think of it as a signpost rather than a destination.

Related guides

Visibility depends on your latitude, the date, and the time of night. The months above assume a typical evening from the contiguous United States, so use a planetarium app to confirm what is up tonight. Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without a proper solar filter.

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