 |
| This star chart shows the
sky at 9:00 PM on June 8, not long after sunset the night of our star party.
The bright star Arcturus, mag 0.2, is near the top of the chart.
Arcturus is about 60 deg above the horizon, a little south of east.
You can find Arcturus by extending the curved handle of the Big Dipper
– follow the arc to Arcturus! When you have followed the arc to Arcturus,
you can then speed on to Spica, another bright star at mag 1.2.
Bright stars like Arcturus and Spica can serve as landmarks in the sky to help you find less prominent objects. For example, Comet Ikeya-Zhang, now dimming around mag 8, is located about 20 deg below Arcturus. No longer a naked-eye object, I-Z is now receding from the earth and the sun, not to return for about 470 years. Globular cluster M13 is a faint naked-eye object about 36 deg below and to the left of Arcturus. The second largest globular in the sky, there are perhaps about 1 million stars in M13. In the center of the cluster, the stars may be as close as about 1/10 light year apart. Keeping in mind that the star nearest the earth is about 4 ly away, perhaps we can imagine how bright the night sky must appear to anyone living near the center of M13. (The largest globular, Omega Centauri – off the chart – will be due south at 10:12 PM on June 8, about 11 deg above the horizon.) Scorpius now pokes his head above the southeastern horizon. As spring gives way to summer, Scorpius will rise higher and higher. The red giant Antares, mag 1.1, sometimes called the Heart of the Scorpion, is now about 7 deg above the horizon. One of the largest stars known, Antares would swallow up all of our solar system’s inner planets through Mars if it occupied the place of our Sun. . . . Humbling, isn’t it?? |
You can print a copy of this star chart so you can take it outside.
|
|
|
|