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Kitt Peak Nightly Observing Program Splendors of the Universe on YOUR Night! Many pictures are links to larger versions. Click here for the “Best images of the AOP” Gallery and more information. Rigel, also known by its Bayer designation Beta Orionis (β Ori, β Orionis), is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the seventh brightest star in the night sky, with visual magnitude 0.13. The star as seen from Earth is actually a triple star system, with the primary star (Rigel A) a bluewhite supergiant of absolute magnitude −7.84 and around 120,000 times as luminous as the Sun. NGC 457 (also known as the Owl Cluster, the ET Cluster, or Caldwell 13) is an open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787, and lies over 7,900 light years away from the Sun. It has an estimated age of 21 million years. M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster. A bright, nearby star cluster in the last stages of star formation. It has six to seven bright stars along with hundreds of fainter stars. It lies about 380 lightyears away and is around 100 million years old. M42: The Great Orion Nebula. This is a region of star formation about 1,500 ly away. It is 30 ly across and contains enough material to make 10,000 stars the size of our sun. M31: The Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest major galactic neighbor. It is a spiral galaxy, lies 2,200,000 lightyears away and has a diameter of 180,000 lightyears. This galaxy contains as much material as 300 billion suns. M32: A small but bright companion galaxy to M31. It orbits M31 much like the Moon orbits the Earth. It lies at the same distance as M31 but is much smaller (8,000 lightyears across). M110: The last Messier object, and the more distant of the Andromeda Galaxy's two companions. M110 is a tiny elliptical galaxy, about 7,000 lightyears across, containing a billion suns. Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, always appears near the Sun in the sky and is only visible shortly after sunset or before sunrise. It zips around the Sun every 88 days and is named for the speedy Roman messenger god. 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. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, a “gas giant” 11 Earth-diameters across. Its atmosphere contains the Great Red Spot, a longlived storm larger than Earth. The 4 large Galilean satellites and at least 59 smaller moons orbit Jupiter. Neptune, eighth planet from the Sun, is a blue “gas giant” about 4 Earth-diameters across. At least 13 moons orbit Neptune. Galileo accidentally observed Neptune in 1612 and 1613 but did not realize it differed from the stars—its true discovery would wait until 1846. Comets were once harbingers of doom— unpredictable and terrifying celestial sights. We now know that comets are balls of ice, rock, and dust tens of kilometers across. As comets approach the Sun, the ices vaporize and sometimes form long, spectacular tails. Clouds: Darn! These pesky intruders have annoyed astronomers for millenia. Kitt Peak usually has clear skies; call us at (520) 318-8726 and join us again some time. The Green Flash: A smidge of green on the top of the sun as it sets (or rises). This rare event needs just the right atmospheric conditions. Milky Way: That clumpy band of light is evidence that we live in a disk-shaped galaxy. Its pale glow is light from billions of suns! Quick streaks of light in the sky called meteors, shooting stars, or falling stars are not stars at all: they are small bits of rock or iron that heat up, glow, and vaporize upon entering the Earth's atmosphere. When the Earth encounters a clump of many of these particles, we see ameteor shower lasting hours or days. Satellites: Human technology! There are almost 10,000 of these in Low Earth Orbit (we can't see the higher ones). We see these little "moving stars" because they reflect sunlight. Scintillation: The twinkling of star light is a beautiful effect of the Earth's atmosphere. As light passes through our atmosphere, its path is deviated (refracted) multiple times before reaching the ground. Stars that are near to the horizon will scintillate much more than stars high overhead since you are looking through more air (often the refracted light will display individual colors). In space stars would not twinkle at all- and this is the way astronomers would like it if they could control the effects of this troubling twinkle. 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 ishttp://www.noao.edu/outreach/nop. Most of the above images were taken as part of the all-night observing program. For more information on this unique experience please visit http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop. Copyright © 2008 Kitt Peak Visitor Center