Basic astronomy and night sky information
With binoculars or a small telescope, just one degree northwest of the star zeta (ζ) Tauri in the horns of the constellation Taurus, the Bull, you can see the famous Crab Nebula, the remnant of a massive star that exploded nearly 1,000 years ago. The Crab Nebula takes its name from a drawing made by the Irish amateur astronomer Lord Rosse in 1844 using his 36-inch telescope at Birr Castle in Ireland. The drawing resembles a horseshoe crab [Read more…] about The Crab Nebula
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It’s been 170 years since the eighth (and so far last) major planet, Neptune, was discovered in our solar system. Pluto, of course, was discovered in 1930, heralded as the ninth planet, but then demoted by consensus of the astronomical community, largely at the behest of the Caltech astronomer Mike Brown who reasoned that Pluto was not large enough to gravitationally clear its path of other bodies, one of the three criteria for a major planet. In the ten years since Pluto’s demotion, Brown has been asked if there are any other planets in our solar system. His answer: “Nope, that’s it.” [Read more…] about A Ninth Planet Discovered?
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There’s a ‘planet fest’ in the eastern sky before sunrise in late January and early February 2016 as the five brightest planets– Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter– make an appearance in a long incline from the eastern horizon, well past the meridian, and on towards the southwest. If you’re up early in the next two weeks, 45-60 minutes before sunrise, this is an opportune time to look to the slowly brightening sky to see this alluring array of bright planets [Read more…] about Five Bright Planets Visible in the Morning Sky
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The Jellyfish Nebula, also called IC 443, is the sprawling remnant of a massive star that exploded as a supernova some 3,000 to 30,000 years ago in a gas-strewn patch of the Milky Way in the constellation Gemini. As you can see in the above image by Jeff Johnson, the shock wave from the explosion produced the particularly intricate lacework of nebulosity that makes up the Jellyfish. The nebula, which is about 5,000 light years away, is adjacent to a rich region of star formation called Sharpless 249. [Read more…] about The Jellyfish Nebula
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The famed V-shaped head of the constellation Taurus is dominated by a lovely collection of blue and orange stars of the Hyades star cluster. Often overshadowed by the smaller and more famous Pleiades, the Hyades are visible high in the northern sky this time of year. They’re visible from the southern hemisphere, too, perhaps 20° above the northern horizon just after sunset in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Hyades have been known since antiquity. The cluster’s name comes from the Greek legend of the seven Hyads, the daughters of the titan Atlas and Aethra. Atlas was busy because he had seven more daughters by another wife, Pleione. These daughters were called the Pleiades. So by legend, the Pleiades and the Hyades are half-sisters. Unlike the Pleiades star cluster, the stars of the Hyades are not named after the sisters. And the Hyades contains some 20 stars visible to the naked eye; the Pleiades have just six [Read more…] about The Hyades Star Cluster – The “Raining Stars”
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