Earthsky Tonight—July 31, Orion the Hunter: ghost of the summer dawn
Posted By Gary Wamsley On July 31, 2010 @ 5:48 pm In Earth & Sky | Comments Disabled
Courtesy of EarthSky
A Clear Voice for Science
www.EarthSky.org [1]
[2]
[3]If you are up early, and have an unobstructed view to the east, be sure to look in that direction in the hour before dawn.
If you do, you will find a familiar figure, which is always in this part of the sky on late summer mornings. It’s the beautiful constellation Orion the Hunter – recently behind the sun as seen from our earthly vantage point – now ascending once more in the east before sunrise.
EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2010 [4]
The Hunter appears each winter as a mighty constellation arcing across the south during the evening hours.
However, at dawn in late summer, you can spot Orion in the east. Thus, Orion has been called the ghost of the shimmering summer dawn. The Hunter rises on his side, with his three Belt stars – Mintaka, Alnitak and Alnilam – pointing straight up.
Also, notice the star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus the Bull. It has said to be the Bull’s fiery red eye. See the V-shaped pattern of stars around Aldebaran? This pattern represents the Bull’s face. In skylore, Orion is said to be holding up a great shield . . . fending off the charging Bull. Can you imagine this by looking at our chart? It is easy to imagine when you look at the real sky on a late summer morning.
Written by Deborah Byrd [5]
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA/JPL [6]
U.S. Naval Observator Astronomical Information cente [8]r
StarDate Online [9]
Sky and Telescope [10]
National Geographic [11]
Space Com [12]
Amazing Space [13]
The York County Astronomical Society [14]
Scope City [15]
Article printed from Recorder Online: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com
URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2010/07/31/earthsky-tonight%e2%80%94july-31-orion-the-hunter-ghost-of-the-summer-dawn/
URLs in this post:
[1] www.EarthSky.org: http://www.EarthSky.org
[2] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2010/07/31/earthsky-tonight%e2%80%94july-31-orion-the-hunter-ghost-of-the-summer-dawn/phasej31/
[3] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2010/07/31/earthsky-tonight%e2%80%94july-31-orion-the-hunter-ghost-of-the-summer-dawn/10jul31_430/
[4] EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2010: http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide
[5] Deborah Byrd: http://earthsky.org/author/deborahbyrd/
[6] Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA/JPL: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
[7] CHANDRA Photo Album: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/
[8] U.S. Naval Observator Astronomical Information cente: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/astronomical-information-center
[9] StarDate Online: http://stardate.org/
[10] Sky and Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance/
[11] National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
[12] Space Com: http://www.space.com/nightsky/
[13] Amazing Space: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/tonights_sky/
[14] The York County Astronomical Society: http://www.ycas.org/tonights_sky.htm
[15] Scope City: http://www.scopecity.net/
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