Saturday, October 12

Astronomy

Star power in Boötes – Astronomy Now
Astronomy

Star power in Boötes – Astronomy Now

Arcturus (alpha Boötis) is the brightest star north of the celestial equator and only Sirius outshines it from UK shores. Dominating the short, late-spring nights is Arcturus, the brightest star of the northern hemisphere sky and the sentinel of spring. It’s the brilliant leader of the constellation of Boötes, the Herdsman, or Bear Keeper, an area of the night sky that’s bereft of bright deep-sky objects, including no Messier-designated targets. Don’t you think then that it’s rather fitting that otherwise uninspiring Boötes has been handed the distinct honour of hosting Arcturus, as well as several superb double stars, including the beautifully formed and named Pulcherrima (Izar, epsilon Boötis).  Arrive at Arcturus Arcturus is a magnificent naked eye star, shining at magnitude –0.04 – o...
Astronomy

Six planets to appear in alignment next week in rare celestial parade | Planets

Stargazers are in with a chance of a celestial treat on Monday with six planets appearing in alignment.Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus will take part in the parade – which occurs when planets gather on the same side of the sun.Prof Danny Steeghs, of the University of Warwick said the event, which should be visible around the world, was due to occur around sunrise and would be rather low in the east, meaning the alignment would need some equipment to see properly.“Uranus and Neptune will be faint, so viewers will require good binoculars to see them,” he said, adding that the proximity of Jupiter and Mercury to the sun would restrict their view.Some of the planets may be visible to the naked eye, although scattered light might still cause difficulties. “Mars and Saturn are...
A Weather Satellite Watched a Space Rock Burn Up Above Spain and Portugal
Astronomy

A Weather Satellite Watched a Space Rock Burn Up Above Spain and Portugal

It’s been a momentous May for skywatchers around the world. First the big auroral event of May 10-11, next a flaming space rock entering over Spain and Portugal. The inbound object was captured by ground-based cameras and the MeteoSat Third Generation Imager in geostationary orbit. The incoming meteor dazzled viewers across both countries as it sped across the skies at 160,000 km/hour. Of course, social media came alive with speculation about what was burning up in the atmosphere. Most people thought it was a piece of space rock from an asteroid. European Space Agency members of the Planetary Defence Office immediately began analyzing images and data to figure out the composition of the impactor. Now it seems more likely the chunk of space debris came from a comet. They used other data a...
Resolving Messier 3’s swarming stars – Astronomy Now
Astronomy

Resolving Messier 3’s swarming stars – Astronomy Now

Messier 3 is a great globular cluster of the late-spring sky. Image: Adam Block. During late spring or early summer—whichever term you choose, likely depending on how fine the weather has been—is the best time to seek out and observe globular clusters, which are among the most striking and impressive categories of deep-sky objects. Globular clusters are densely-packed, near spherical collections of ancient stars that populate mainly the extended outer halo of our galaxy. They are believed to have formed in the very early life of our Galaxy, over 11 billions years ago; Messier 3 is thought to be 11.4 billion years old. Astounding star densities exist inside even run-of-the-mill globulars; on average, 0.4 stars per cubic parsec (a parsec is equal to 3.26 light years), rising to 100 to 1,000...