constellation

The Constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer

August 7, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Uncategorized

In last month’s constellation tour, you explored the faint stars of Serpens Caput, the Snake’s Head. This month, you examine the bearer of this celestial snake, a star group represented by the large constellation Ophiuchus.

Ophiuchus (pronounced “Oaf-ih-YOU-kus”) lies directly opposite the constellation Orion on the celestial sphere. But Ophiuchus is no Orion. The constellation has no bright stars, and you need to expend a fair effort to imagine here a man holding a snake. But Ophiuchus is chock-a-block with globular and open star clusters, as well as dark nebulae in its southern extremes near the border with the constellation Scorpius. In an upcoming article, you’ll get the highlights of the deep-sky sights in Ophiuchus. For now, let’s explore this ancient star group itself [Read more…] about The Constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer

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Going Deep in the Snake’s Head

July 24, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Sketch of Messier 5. Credit: Vedran Vrhovac at Flickr.com. Click to enlarge.

The constellation Serpens Caput, the Snake’s Head, lies well off the band of the Milky Way and holds relatively few deep-sky sights. But it’s not completely barren. Let’s have a look at three targets in this ancient constellation for stargazers equipped with modest optics and an urge to see something good [Read more…] about Going Deep in the Snake’s Head

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The Constellation Serpens Caput, the ‘Snake’s Head’

July 16, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

The region of Ophiuchus and Serpens in a map circa 1825.

In last month’s constellation tour, we examined the dazzling stars of the constellation Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. This month, we move due south to the northern section of the constellation Serpens, the only constellation split into two parts. These are the stars of Serpens Caput, the ‘head of the snake’, which zigzags vertically along the celestial sphere, just north of the celestial equator, and just west of the much larger constellation Ophiuchus, the ‘serpent bearer’. The stars of Serpens Caput are visible in the northern and southern hemispheres [Read more…] about The Constellation Serpens Caput, the ‘Snake’s Head’

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The Constellation Corona Borealis

June 22, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Illustrated star map showing Corona Borealis and Hercules

Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown, is a small but lovely semicircular constellation just to the east of Böotes, the Herdsman. In the months of May and June, shortly after sunset, the constellation lies nearly overhead for northern-hemisphere observers, and well over the northern horizon for southern stargazers. It’s one of the oldest constellations, and one of the few that vividly resembles its name.

The constellation takes its name from the crown, in Greek legend, given to the maiden Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. Ariadne had been abandoned on the island of Naxos by Theseus, the legendary hero who slew the Minotaur. The god Dionysus rescued the maiden, fell in love with her, and gave her a jeweled crown forged by Hephaestus, god of the forge. Ariadne and Dionysus had a happy life together. But she was mortal and eventually died. Dionysus placed her crown in the heavens to remember her [Read more…] about The Constellation Corona Borealis

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The Constellation Draco

February 11, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Now we look to the long and winding constellation Draco. This group winds between the Big and Little Dippers. The tip of its tail lies just above the bowl of the Big Dipper, while the small quadrilateral of its head lies near one of the feet of Hercules. The constellation is well overhead from March through the late months of summer in the northern hemisphere.

(This article is an excerpt of the Cosmic Pursuits course Fundamentals of Stargazing, to be released in February 2016) [Read more…] about The Constellation Draco

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