Basic astronomy and night sky information
Scattered in a thick band south of Canis Major lie the stars and star clusters of the constellation Puppis. There are no stars here to visually rival the brilliant stars of the Big Dog or Orion further to the north and west. But visual appearances are deceiving because among the stars of Puppis is one of the most luminous and hottest stars in our part of the galaxy, the star Naos or zeta Puppis [Read more…] about The Bluest Star
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For visual observers with small optics, the colors of the deep sky range from subtle to nonexistent. Galaxies and nebulae cast too little light to stimulate the color-sensing cone cells in our retinas, so they appear pale gray-white or, in the case of a bright planetary nebulae, gray-green. Bright stars are a little more colorful. Betelgeuse appears clearly orange, even to the unaided eye, Rigel shines blue-white, and the showpiece double star Albireo in the constellation Cygnus shows off a blue-green primary and red-orange secondary in even the smallest telescope. Otherwise, star colors are quite subtle, especially to new stargazers. But there is one exception– carbon stars. These deep ruby-red stars, which dredge up nuclear soot from their innards, give off a striking glow that’s easy to see in a small telescope. See your first carbon star and you’ll want to see many more [Read more…] about The Allure of Carbon Stars
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