Naked eye
Primary naked-eye pattern; suburban skies should show the main stars unless the description notes a low horizon or dark-sky need.
Auriga
Kids of Auriga
Haedi
skylore / traditional name · medium confidence
The three small stars near Capella are the goat-kids carried by the Charioteer. They sit high in Alberta winter skies and make a compact naked-eye side quest beside Capella.
- Central RA
- 05h 03m 39.2s
- Central Dec
- +42° 02′ 40″
- Brightest member
- V 2.99
- Best months from 50°N
- December–March evenings
- Suggested instrument
- naked-eye
- Approx. span
- 2.7°
Finder context
This wider chart is deliberately schematic: it uses nearby bright-star context and boxes the asterism’s member-star footprint, but it does not draw official constellation boundaries or promise horizon/season precision.
Framing: Approximate member-star span: 2.7°; use at least 3.8° field for context.
Observing and imaging
Binoculars
Binoculars are optional: use them to check colours, nearby doubles, or richer Milky Way background.
Small scope
A telescope is usually too narrow for the whole shape; use it after the pattern has guided you to a target.
Imaging
Frame as a wide-field scene in/near Auriga; a field of view around 5° keeps context without claiming exact constellation boundaries.
Observability from your latitude
Uses this asterism’s centroid RA/Dec: transit altitude, hours above 20°, and a month-scale evening window. Default is Edmonton-ish 50°N.
Naked-eye visibility by sky class
Approximate limiting magnitudes: Bortle 3 ≈ V 6.6, Bortle 5 ≈ V 5.6, Bortle 7 ≈ V 4.6. The shape is counted recognisable when at least 70% of defining stars clear the limit.
Bortle 3: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 3/3 stars — fully visible
Member stars
| Name | Bayer / Flamsteed | HR | RA J2000 | Dec J2000 | V mag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almaaz | 7Eps Aur | HR 1605 | 05h 01m 58.1s | +43° 49′ 24″ | 2.99 |
| Haedus II | 10Eta Aur | HR 1641 | 05h 06m 30.9s | +41° 14′ 04″ | 3.17 |
| Saclateni | 8Zet Aur | HR 1612 | 05h 02m 28.7s | +41° 04′ 33″ | 3.75 |
Source and confidence
skylore / traditional name; medium confidence. Traditional or folk name carried through older public-domain star-name literature; the plotted stars are still BSC5 positions.
Citations
- Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
- Star Names and Their Meanings: Allen, R.H. (1899). Public-domain skylore and traditional names.
- The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.