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: 05^h 03^m 39.2^s
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

Use the nearby bright stars to locate the gold box, then move to the larger chart for the pattern itself.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 2.7°; use at least 3.8° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Start with the unaided eye. Suburban skies usually show the main stars.

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 a 5° field around Auriga to include the pattern and its nearby stars.

Tonight from your latitude

Set your location and date to see a useful window, peak altitude, sky visibility, and Moon conditions. Use Month to compare the season ahead.

Latitude 50°NLongitude -114°Date Month Sky darkness Bortle 4 · limit V 6.1

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Bortle class rates night-sky brightness. The atlas counts a pattern as recognisable when at least 70% of its defining stars are visible.

Bortle 3: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 3/3 stars — fully visible

Moon impact

For 50°N in the best month, green dates mark at least two hours with the pattern above 20° and the Moon below the horizon.

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Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
Almaaz	7Eps Aur	HR 1605	05^h 01^m 58.1^s	+43° 49′ 24″	2.99
Haedus II	10Eta Aur	HR 1641	05^h 06^m 30.9^s	+41° 14′ 04″	3.17
Saclateni	8Zet Aur	HR 1612	05^h 02^m 28.7^s	+41° 04′ 33″	3.75

Source and confidence

skylore / traditional name; medium confidence. Traditional or folk name recorded in older star-name literature.

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.