Archive for April 4, 2010
Earthsky Tonight — April 6, 2010: Use Big Dipper to
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Here is the view northward on April evenings. Now the Big Dipper is high in the north. Notice the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper. These two stars – called Duhbe and Merak – always point to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is special because it always stays in the same spot in the northern sky. It is the star around which the entire northern sky appears to turn. That is because Polaris is located more or less ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight — April 5, 2010: Star in the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org In 2007, a faint star in the constellation Bootes the Herdsman made astronomical history. An international team of astronomers, led by Jean-Francis Donati and Claire Montau of France, caught the star Tau Bootis flipping its north and south magnetic poles while these astronomers were mapping the magnetic fields of stars. This was the first time a magnetic reversal had been observed on any star other than our sun. Astronomers are ... Full Story
