Posts Tagged ‘light years’
Sky Tonight—March 26, Is Sirius the most luminous
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Look southward at dusk and nightfall, and you can’t miss Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky. Mia asks, “Isn’t there a brighter star in absolute magnitude which appears dimmer because of its distance?” Yes, Mia, you are right. Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major (the Greater Dog), looks extraordinarily bright in Earth’s sky because it is only 8.6 light-years away. Many stars on ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
NGC 3621: Far Beyond the Local Group Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler Explanation: Far beyond the local group of galaxies lies NGC 3621, some 22 million light-years away. Found in the multi-headed southern constellation Hydra, the winding spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes. Still, for earthbound astronomers NGC 3621 is not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy. Some of ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—January 12, Moon and stars of Aries
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Practiced stargazers sometimes use three stars of the constellation Aries the Ram to find an elusive galaxy – M74 – also known as the Phantom galaxy. As seen from the world this evening, the first quarter moon shines in front of the constellation Pisces the Fishes, not far at the Aries/Pisces border. The three stars mentioned above are to the moon’s upper left tonight. They depict the head of Aries ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—March 10: Is Sirius the most
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Look south at nightfall and early evening, and you can’t miss Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky. Mia asks, “Isn’t there a brighter star in absolute magnitude which appears dimmer because of its distance?” Yes, Mia, you are right. Sirius looks extraordinarily bright in Earth’s sky because it is only 8.6 light-years away. Many stars on the sky’s dome are intrinsically more luminous ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight — March 7, 2010: Predawn moon
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org On the morning of March 8 (Monday), the rather wide waning crescent moon helps you to locate the two stars in the tail of the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. These two very noticeable stars – called Shaula and Lesath – are often shown on old star maps at the tip of the Scorpion’s Stinger. These star names mean raised tail and stinger respectively in Arabic, although there is some controversy over the origin of ... Full Story
