Astronomy skychart8/17/2023 Barely lower left of it is 4th-magnitude Epsilon Lyrae, the Double-Double. ■ Vega is the brightest star high in the east after dark. For such a near-perfect equilateral, I think its special name ought to be revived. S&T columnist George Lovi named this the Spring Triangle nearly a half century ago, but the name never really caught on. All three sides of the triangle are close to 35° long (35.3°, 35.1°, and 32.8°). ■ Leo's tail star, 2nd-magnitude Denebola high in the south-southwest after dark, forms an almost perfectly equilateral triangle with brighter Spica off to its left and Arcturus, brighter still, above them. Altair is midway in brightness between Vega and Deneb. Look for Altair a greater distance to Vega's lower right. Deneb is the brightest star to Vega's lower left, by 2 or 3 fists at arm's length. ■ As we count down the last two weeks to official summer (the solstice is on June 21st this year), the Summer Triangle stands high and proud in the east after dark. The kite is narrow, slightly bent to the right, and 23° long: about two fists at arm's length. The kite shape of Boötes, its constellation, extends up from Arcturus as you face south. ■ Bright Arcturus shines pale yellow-orange high overhead toward the south these evenings. Closer above and upper left of Eltanin are the three fainter stars forming the rest of Draco's stick-figure head, also called the Lozenge the faintest of them is 4th magnitude. Look 14° (about a fist and a half at arm's length) to Vega's upper left for Eltanin, the 2nd-magnitude nose of Draco the Dragon. ■ Vega is the brightest star in the east-northeast after dark. Delta Sco is the middle, and brightest, of the three stars forming the head of Scorpius. Binoculars will help pull Antares out of the bright moonglare.Īnd upper right of Antares by 7½° is Delta Scorpii, about half as bright but less blasted by moonlight. Look for orange Antares just 3° or 4° to the Moon's upper right this evening. Venus will follow in Mars's footsteps past the Beehive on June 12th and 13th. Can you see its position change with respect to the stars in as little as a half hour? Note the shape it makes with the closest faint stars to it that you can see, as noted in the June Sky & Telescope, page 49. Mars is moving east across the cluster at about 90 arcseconds per hour. Use binoculars after twilight ends or, better, a telescope. ■ Mars shines inside the Beehive cluster, M44, near the central beehive-shaped asterism itself (which is currently tilted right). Meanwhile Mars over there looks forlorn, but it's putting on a performance of its own. Catch the Venus-Pollux-Castor lineup at dusk. During the course of this week, watch the two stars move farther to Venus's lower right, while Mars approaches Venus more slowly from the upper left. ■ Venus remains in line with Castor and Pollux this evening, as shown below, though not as precisely as it was yesterday evening. See a star, a single star, 21 million light-years away. See our article Bright Supernova Blazes in M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, with charts and comparison magnitudes. Supernovae usually stay bright for weeks, often with ups and downs, so there's no telling what this one may do next. And Supernova 2023ixf in the galaxy M101 has only faded a trace, to magnitude 11.3, from its peak of magnitude 11.1 around May 25th. Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy, update June 7 : The sky is now moonless after dark.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |