Download Albireo (β Cygni) is a star system marking the beak of Cygnus, the

Many pictures are links to larger versions.
Click here for the “Best images of the OTOP” Gallery and more information.
Albireo (β Cygni) is a star system marking the beak of Cygnus,
the swan. Through the telescope, we see two components
shining in contrasting colors, golden-orange and blue. It turns
out that the fainter blue component is actually a binary. It is
unknown, though, if the bright gold component makes this a
true triple star system or if it is just passing by. Albireo is about
430 light-years away.
The Double-Double (ε Lyrae) looks like two stars in binoculars,
but a good telescope shows that both of these two are
themselves binaries. However, there may be as many as ten
stars in this system! The distant pairs are about 0.16 light-year
apart and take about half a million years to orbit one another.
The Double-Double is about 160 light-years from Earth.
In the handle of the Big Dipper,Mizar
& Alcor (ζ & 80 Ursae Majoris) or the
“Horse & Rider” form a naked-eye
double star. They are traveling
through space together about 80 lightyears away from us, separated by
about a light-year. However, it is
unknown if they are actually orbiting
each other. A telescope splits Mizar
itself into two stars, but these both
are again doubles, bringing the total in
this system to six.
"Double Cluster" (NGC 884 and NGC 869): These two star
clusters are a treat for binoculars and telescope alike. Each is a
congregation of many hundred stars around 50-60 light years
in diameter. These clusters are both about 7500 light years
away.
M8: The "Lagoon Nebula." A huge cloud of gas and dust beside
an open cluster of stars (NGC 6530). The Lagoon is a stellar
nursery, 4,100 lightyears away, towards the galactic core.
M13: The "Great Globular Cluster in Hercules" was discovered
by Edmund "Comet" Halley in 1714. It is 22,000 lightyears
away, and light would need over a century to traverse its
diameter.
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest major galactic
neighbor. It is a spiral galaxy, lies 2,500,000 lightyears away and
has a diameter of 220,000 lightyears. This galaxy contains as
much material as 1.5 trillion suns.
Venus, the second planet, is the brightest natural object in the
sky other than the Sun and Moon and is often erroneously
called the “morning star” or “evening star.” It is completely
wrapped in sulfuric acid clouds and its surface is hot enough to
melt lead.
Mars, the red planet, has a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere,
clouds, dust storms, and polar caps made of dry ice. Images of
dry riverbeds from orbiting spacecraft show us that liquid
water once flowed on the Martian surface.
Saturn, the second-largest planet in the Solar System, is known
for its showy but thin rings made of ice chunks as small as dust
and as large as buildings. Its largest moon, Titan, has an
atmosphere and hydrocarbon lakes; at least 61 smaller moons
orbit Saturn.
Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, was discovered by Sir
William Herschel in 1781. It has a dark set of rings and at least
27 moons. Uranus's axis of rotation is almost 90 degrees from
those of the other planets, as if Uranus has been tipped onto
its side.
The same side of the Moon always faces Earth because the
lunar periods of rotation and revolution are the same. The
surface of the moon is covered with impact craters and lavafilled basins. The Moon is about a fourth of Earth's diameter
and is about 30 Earth-diameters away.
M57: The Ring Nebula. This remnant of a dead star looks
exactly as it's name says - a ring or doughnut shape cloud of
gas. The nebula is about 2.6 lightyears across and lies about
2,300 lightyears away.
Coathanger Cluster: Also called Cr 399, or Brocchi's
Cluster, this close open cluster reminds me of my hall
closet. Chaotic stellar orbital motion can sometimes make
interesting shapes!
The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism involving
an imaginary triangle drawn on the northern hemisphere's
celestial sphere, with its defining vertices at Altair, Deneb,
and Vega, the brightest stars in the three constellations of
Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra, respectively.
Your Telescope Operator and Guide. Thank you for joining
me this evening! See you soon!!
Your Telescope Operator and Guide. Thank you for joining
me this evening! See you soon!!
The web page for the program in which you just participated is at Nightly Observing Program.
Most of the above images were taken as part of the Overnight Telescope Observing Program.
For more information on this unique experience please visitOvernight Telescope Observing
Program.
Copyright © 2016 Kitt Peak Visitor Center