Top 5 Largest Constellations Visible From The PNW

constellation constellations largest constellations
Courtesy of NASA

What are the 5 largest constellations that one can see from the Pacific Northwest? This is a great question as the largest constellations visible from the Pacific Northwest happen to be the largest constellations in the sky. However, these are not necessarily native to the northern hemisphere, as Hydra, Virgo, and Cetus are considered Southern Constellations.

Here is a summary of the largest constellations visible in the Pacific Northwest.

ConstellationIAU RankBest Time To ViewWhere In The SkyInteresting Fact
Hydra1stMarch/AprilSouthern Sky Close To HorizonHindu and Chinese astronomers had myths related to these stars
Virgo2ndMaySouthern Part Of The SkyThe ecliptic intersects the celestial equator within this constellation. Spica is an easy way to find it.
Ursa Major3rdAprilDirectly OverheadThis is part of the Big Dipper.
Cetus4thNovemberSouthern Sky Close To HorizonCetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water-related constellations.
Hercules5thJulyOverhead/Mid-skyHercules has no first or second magnitude stars
Author Created Unique Table
Interesting Trivia:

The largest northern constellations are Ursa Major, Hercules, Pegasus, Draco and Leo, all of which are visible from the Pacific Northwest.

All of these listed were known to the Greek, listed by Ptolemy in his Almagest in the 2nd century AD. They have been known since ancient times. The largest constellation that has not been known since antiquity is Lynx.

To find out which ones have Messier objects, check out this article. For a different spin on things, check out this article from astronomy.com.


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