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THIS week we will be looking for two important constellations that are prominent in the skies around the world during February. They were both named after figures in Greek mythology: Perseus the hero and Auriga the charioteer. They will be visible for most of the evening in the northern hemisphere, but only for an hour or two after sunset in the southern hemisphere, where you should look in a northerly direction.

Perseus (pictured above) is one of the biggest constellations in the night sky. Its namesake was said to have saved Andromeda from being sacrificed to the sea monster Cetus, both of which lend their names to other constellations. I like to use this story to remember that Perseus is next to the constellation Andromeda. Perseus is great to spot because it is home to two star clusters, known as the double cluster.

To find Perseus, we can use the neighbouring constellation of Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda in mythology, and also pictured above). It has five bright stars that make a W in the northern hemisphere, or M in the southern. The shallower of these two Vs will be our guide. Take the middle star of Cassiopeia and follow an imaginary line to the star that makes the bottom (or top) of the shallower V. Keep this line going and you will reach Perseus.

You will know you have found it because you will see four bright stars in a slightly curved line. This is the main body of Perseus, and the rest of the constellation forms another line that splits off from this one. Perseus sits between Cassiopeia and Taurus, so if you get to a collection of stars that looks like a tiny version of the Plough, or Big Dipper, you have gone too far – this is the Pleiades star cluster, part of Taurus.

The double cluster is in between Cassiopeia and the brighter stars of Perseus, and both clusters will look fuzzy to the naked eye. But with a pair of binoculars or small telescope you will be able to see hundreds of stars in them. Perseus is also home to a variable triple star system called Algol, which dims for about 10 hours every two to three days, as one of its members eclipses its main one.

Now for Auriga. Once you have found Perseus, follow the curve line of those four stars and you will get to a bright star. This is the sixth brightest in the night sky, and the brightest in Auriga, called Capella (named for one of Auriga’s goats). The outline of Auriga is made up of six stars that form a stretched hexagonal shape. The constellation sits between Perseus and Gemini, so if you can spot the twin stars of Castor and Pollux on the other side of Capella, you are looking in the right place.

Auriga also shares a star with Taurus, called Elnath. This sits almost exactly in the opposite direction to the centre of the Milky Way, so when you look at it, you are gazing out of our galaxy into the vastness of the universe.

Abigail Beall is a features editor at ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ and author of The Art of Urban Astronomy. Follow her @abbybeall

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