Tag: amateur astronomers

a serious star cluster size

Sight for sore eyes – star cluster sized.

“…if our Sun were near the center of NGC 362, the night sky would glow like a jewel box of bright stars. Hundreds of stars would glow brighter than Sirius, and in many different colors…”

Source

 

Sirius Massive Cluster

an apod image of sirius star cluster taken by hubble telescope.
Yes, it’s seriously large this cluster.

 

In 1909, Ejnar Hertzsprung was the first to suggest that Sirius was a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group, based on his observations of the system’s movements across the sky. The Ursa Major Group is a set of 220 stars that share a common motion through space and were once formed as members of an open cluster, which has since become gravitationally unbound.

Analyses in 2003 and 2005 found Sirius’s membership in the group to be questionable: the Ursa Major Group has an estimated age of 500±100 million years, whereas Sirius, with metallicity similar to the Sun’s, has an age that is only half this, making it too young to belong to the group.

Sirius may instead be a member of the proposed Sirius Supercluster, along with other scattered stars such as Beta Aurigae, Alpha Coronae Borealis, Beta Crateris, Beta Eridani and Beta Serpentis. This is one of three large clusters located within 500 light-years (150 pc) of the Sun. The other two are the Hyades and the Pleiades, and each of these clusters consists of hundreds of stars.

 

NGC 362 - Potw1643a.tif
By ESA/Hubble, CC BY 4.0, Link

 

 

 

 

seeing libra and corvus with naked eye

Great Constellation Viewing – It Does Not Happen Very Often

Good views of both constellations this evening which is really good, considering the bad light pollution here. Both near to the horizon.

Having Jupiter and Spica shining bright is always a great pointer too!

Northern Hemisphere Constellations with Planet Jupiter
Usually too faint for me to see – Libra and Corvus constellations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Constellations of Libra and Corvus …and Scorpius is rising.

Scorpius – Sting In The Tail

The tail is on the horizon – it usually is.

Cassini Saturn Continues

Searching Planet Saturn

 

Satellite Cassini-Huygens 

The Cassini Huygens Information

The Journey – The Spacecraft

Saturn F-Ring

#NASACassini

Go behind the scenes

Amateur Images Saturn Cassini 

The Cassini Mission Timeline 

Continue reading “Cassini Saturn Continues”

Near To Orion Is Enough

So I Will Feature the Eridanus Constellation

Eridanus is a constellation in the southern hemisphere. It is represented as a river. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is the sixth largest of the modern constellations. The same name was later taken as a Latin name for the real Po River and also for the name of a minor river in Athens.

Eridanus contains the galaxies NGC 1232, NGC 1234, NGC 1291 and NGC 1300, a grand design barred spiral galaxy.

Just Part Of Orion & I

constellation fascination

 

The night sky is getting darker earlier in the evening right now so it’s time to see the constellations of the northern hemisphere in good ‘view’.

See other resources for those by viewing further on as I am not looking through a telescope, just looking up and seeing clouds!

monoceros

 

image-constellation-centaurus
Tree in Centaurus non-specified!

Saucepan

Cassiopeia

 

 

 

This Space Probe

Taken At The Milky Way Drive By 

Realistic take on the solar system subject.

A relief from scary fekking clowns take a lookup above instead for some real inspiration.

img-constellation
Autumn Night Sky

usual saturday then

Saturday is – quiet night in..
No Dead End
Look again..and again. No dead end exists.
Cloudy non naked eye dark sky tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Old Dude
Our Old Dude – Ziggy

 

Saturday Quiet In

 

 

 

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/planets-similar-to-jupiter-are-likely-able-to-form-on-orbits-shorter-than-the-earths

 

 

definition of astronomer amateur

Amateur astronomy is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the sky, and the abundance of objects found in it with the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research is not their main goal, many amateur astronomers make a contribution to astronomy by monitoring variable stars, tracking asteroids and discovering transient objects, such as comets and novae.

The typical amateur astronomer is one who does not depend on the field of astronomy as a primary source of income or support, and does not have a professional degree or advanced academic training in the subject. Many amateurs are beginners or hobbyists, while others have a high degree of experience in astronomy and often assist and work alongside professional astronomers.

Constellation-Orion-NakedEyeDarkSky

Amateur astronomy is usually associated with viewing the night sky when most celestial objects and events are visible, but sometimes amateur astronomers also operate during the day for events such as sunspots and solar eclipses. Amateur astronomers often look at the sky using nothing more than their eyes, but common tools for amateur astronomy include portable telescopes and binoculars.

People have studied the sky throughout history in an amateur framework, without any formal method of funding. It is only within about the past century, however, that amateur astronomy has become an activity clearly distinguished from professional astronomy, and other related activities.

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