Aries or Taurus? Do you know when to spot your zodiac constellation in the night sky?
The astronomical zodiac constellations bear the names of figures, animals and objects from Greek mythology, although many have much more ancient origins.
You'll see them sitting behind the path that the Sun, Moon and planets travel across the sky as seen from Earth — eight degrees either side of a line known as the ecliptic.
At any point in time you can see up to four zodiac constellations in the sky.
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If you were to look north and watch the sky at the same time each night, you'd see the position of each of these constellations gradually shift until they disappear below the western horizon, while new ones rise in the east to take their place.
Weather permitting, the best time to see a constellation is when it's highest in the night sky between 9:00pm and 10:00pm.
For each constellation of the zodiac, this will be at a different time of the year.
Click on your constellation to find out the best time of year to see it.
Taurus
Best months to see: January - February
Taurus has been depicted as a bull by many cultures since ancient times.
It sits between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east.
And its easy to find thanks to the giant red star called Aldebaran which marks the bull's eye.
A v-shaped cluster of stars called the Hyades makes up its face.
Another pretty cluster of stars called the Pleiades (pictured at the top of the story) sits about a hand's width away from Aldebaran.
If you have binoculars you might also be able to make out a fuzzy blob near the tip of the bull's right horn. This is the Crab Nebula (below) — the remains of a star explosion that was first recorded in 1054 by Chinese astronomers.
Gemini
Best months to see: February - March.
Gemini depicts the sons of the Greek god Zeus — Castor and Pollux.
It lies between Taurus to the west and Cancer to the east.
The constellation actually looks like stick figure twins holding hands. Their heads are marked by two bright stars — Pollux is the brightest.
Deep within the constellation lie a number of beautiful gas and dust clouds such as the Eskimo Nebula (pictured below), the Jellyfish Nebula and the Medusa Nebula.
The constellation is also home to one of the best meteor showers of the year. The Geminids shower occurs every December when the Earth passes through debris from the five-kilometre wide asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
Cancer
Best month to see: mid-March
Faint and delicate Cancer doesn't stand out in the sky.
You'll find the crab hiding between Gemini in the west and Leo in the east.
Its five main stars, which form a y-shape, are only just visible to the naked eye. But if you look closely at the constellation with binoculars you'll see a beautiful "swarm of bees" near the centre.
This is the beehive cluster or Praesepe (pictured below), an open cluster of at least 1,000 red and blue stars about 600 million years old.
Cancer is also home to the first-known alien solar system, featuring a two-faced planet known as 55 Canceri e.
Leo
Best months to see: April - May
The bright stars in Leo make up a stick-figure lion — at least in the northern hemisphere. From the south it looks more like an upside-down coat hanger.
You'll find it between Cancer in the west and Virgo to the east.
It is named after the mythological monster killed by Heracles, but it was also depicted as a lion in much earlier cultures across the Near East.
In keeping with the king of the constellations theme, the brightest star in this constellation is called Regulus.
Leo is home to some very spectacular galaxies including a pair dubbed "the Cosmic Horseshoe" (pictured below). Seen through the Hubble Telescope, the horseshoe effect is created by the distortion of light from the distant galaxy by the gravity of the galaxy in the foreground.
Virgo
Best months to see: May – June
Virgo, the virgin, is the largest of the zodiac constellations and the second largest of all the constellations.
It sits between Leo to the west and Libra to the east.
Spica, the brightest of its nine bright stars, is about 250 light years from our Sun.
Deep within Virgo is a rich assortment of galaxies, one of the most spectacular of these is the Sombrero Galaxy (pictured below). If you have a telescope you can see the unusually bright centre of the galaxy about a hand-span away from Spica.
Virgo also has more stars with alien planets we know of than any other constellation.
Libra
Best month to see: July
Libra is the only zodiac constellation that's an object — not an animal or mythological figure.
It sits between the constellation of Virgo, the maiden in the west, and Scorpius, the scorpion in the east.
Until about 100 BC, its two brightest stars Zubeneschamali beta librae and Zubenelgenubi alpha libra actually belonged to the constellation of Scorpius.
The constellation is home to the oldest known star in the Universe — at 13.2 billion years, the star known by the very uncatchy name of HE1523-0901, formed just after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago.
Libra is also home to a 170 light-year wide cluster of stars known as NGC 5897 (pictured below).
Scorpius
Best month to see: August
Scorpius (not Scorpio) is an impressive constellation that curls across the Milky Way.
It sits between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the west and its brightest stars actually form a pattern that looks like a scorpion.
The scorpion was even more impressive up until about 100 BC when the Romans chopped off its claws and gave them to the constellation of Libra.
Look directly above your head in mid-winter and you'll see a giant hook with an anchor on the end arcing across the Milky Way.
Its brightest star, Antares, is a red supergiant around 500 million years away from us.
Scorpius contains many beautiful star clusters. If you sweep a telescope around the hook — the tail of the scorpion — you'll see beautiful cluster of stars that looks like a butterfly at the end. This is the Butterfly Cluster (pictured below).
Ophiuchus
Best months to see: late June - early August
Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer got a raw deal in the zodiac stakes. Even though the Sun has passed through this constellation since ancient times, you may be hard pressed to find this one in your newspaper horoscope column.
One end of this astronomical zodiac constellation is located between Scorpius to the west and Sagittarius to the east, and the bulk of it sits between Serpens Caput (the snake's head) and Serpens Cauda (the snake's tail). While the Sun spends about eight days in Scorpius, it spends around 18 days in Ophiuchus.
Its stars are hard to see with the naked eye, but this is a spectacular patch of the sky.
It's a constellation of giants, one of which is Rasalhague, a red giant that sits at the Serpent Bearer's head.
Ophiuchus is also where you'll find the second closest star to us — the dim red dwarf Barnard's star is just six light years away.
Then there's the zippy Zeta Ophiuchi. Travelling at about 30 kilometres per second it's the fastest star we know of.
Ophiuchus is also home to a wealth of ancient star clusters, star nurseries, and the remnant of a massive star explosion known as the Kepler supernova (pictured below).
Sagittarius
Best month to see: September
Sagittarius, the archer, faces the centre of our galaxy.
It covers a patch of sky between Scorpius to the west and Capricornus to the east.
Lurking deep in the heart of the constellation we in Australia lovingly think of as "The Teapot" is supermassive black hole 2.6 million times the mass of our Sun.
Covering the richest part of the Milky Way, Sagittarius is chock-a-block full of deep-sky gems with spectacular names such as the Lagoon Nebula (pictured below), the Lobster Nebula, the Triffid Nebula and the Sagittarius Star Cloud.
Capricornus
Best month to see: October
Capricornus (note the "us" at the end of its name) — the sea goat — sits between Sagittarius to the west and Aquarius to the east.
It doesn't stand out in a crowded sky, but it still has some impressive stars.
One of these sits at the goat-fish's tail at the bottom right hand corner of the constellation as seen from the southern hemisphere. Deneb Algedi is a four-star system 39 light years from us and visible in a telescope.
Capricornus also contains a stunning star cluster — M30 (pictured below). This tight ball of stars is about 93 light-years across and can be seen in binoculars. In fact, it was first seen by Charles Messier — the M in M30 — in 1764.
Aquarius
Best months to see: October - November
Aquarius the waterbearer spreads out in sky alongside other constellations with water themes such as Cetus the whale and Eridanus the river.
It sits between Capricornus to the west and Pisces to the east in the zodiac line up.
Like Capricornus, Aquarius is not outwardly flashy. But it does contain some pretty cool stars with alien worlds.
One of these systems is TRAPPIST-1. This ultracool star, just 40 light-years away, has at least seven Earth-sized exoplanets.
Aquarius is also home to some spectacular gas clouds such as the Saturn Nebula, and the Sauron-like Helix Nebula (pictured below). The Helix Nebula, which is 400 light-years from Earth, is our closest planetary nebula — a gas cloud emitted from a dying star.
Pisces
Best months to see: November - December
The v-shaped Pisces is one of the largest constellations in the sky, but it doesn't have any bright stars so it's tricky to see.
It sits between Aquarius to the west and Aries to the east.
Don't be disappointed by the lack of sparklers, deep down this constellation contains some spectacular features such as the grand design spiral galaxy Messier 74 (pictured below) and the colliding galaxy pair Arp 284.
Pisces is also home to the March equinox — the position where the Sun crosses the celestial equator. The position of the March — or vernal — equinox has changed over time. Around 2,000 years ago it was in the constellation of Aries.
Aries
Best month to see: mid December
Aries represents the golden fleece of Greek mythology, but it has been depicted as a ram since ancient times.
It sits between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east.
This very faint constellation has only four stars just visible to the naked eye, so it's not easy to find. Its brightest star, Alpha Arietis or Hamal, is Arabic for "head of the ram".
Aries covers a medium-sized patch of sky that looks out towards the edge of our galaxy. Around 2,000 years ago it used to be the home of the March equinox — the point where the Sun crosses the celestial equator — but that has now moved westward into Pisces.
There aren't any star clusters or nebulae so it's no show-pony.
But there are some galaxies such as the beautiful colliding pair known as Arp 87 (pictured below).
