Download Spring Stargazing - Trimble County Schools

Stargazing:
The Spring Sky
By
Ms. Pacheco
Ursa Major: a.k.a. Big Dipper
• Almost directly overhead
• Easy to find
• Helps you find other constellations and
stars
• The second to last star in the handle is
actually a visual double star, Alcor and
Mizar. You can almost see them with your
eyes, definitely with binoculars.
• 81 and 78 ly respectively.
Alcor and
Mizar
This is the Big Dipper over 500 year old
Hohenzoller Castle in Germany.
Ursa Minor: a.k.a. Little Dipper
• Follow the first two stars of the cup of the
Big Dipper to Polaris, The North Star,
which makes up the end of the handle of
the Little Dipper.
• Polaris is a supergiant, 2000 times brighter
than our sun. It is only the 49th brightest
star in the sky!
• Polaris actually has a small, blue
companion star. You need a large scope
to see it.
• The Big Dipper is emptying into the Little
Dipper
In addition to the Northern Lights here, you
can see the Big and Little Dippers here. See
If you can find Polaris.
These are star trails made by the
Earth’s rotation, making these stars
appear to rotate around Polaris. Really,
the Earth is rotating around the North
Pole.
Gemini: The Twins
• To find Gemini, follow a line from the top
left star to the bottom right star of the
B.D.’s cup.
• Pollux is the left twin, Castor is the right
one.
• Imagine Castor kicking a soccer ball. This
soccer ball is actually M35, an open
cluster visible with binoculars. You can
barely see it with the naked eye.
These are open star
clusters located
toward Gemini.
This is the Eskimo Nebula, found in Gemini.
It is 5000 ly away.
Leo: The Lion
• Use a line from the two left stars of the
B.D.’s cup to point down to Leo
• The bright star at the “heart” of the lion is
Regulus. It is a blue giant, 78 ly away.
• The star at the tail of the lion is Denebola.
In May of 1993, the
gibbous moon
occulted Regulus.
The Beehive Cluster (M44)
• If you really want to challenge yourself,
use binoculars and go straight out from the
nose of the lion. You should run into the
“Beehive Cluster”.
This is an April 2003 picture of Jupiter
near the Beehive Cluster. At that time,
Jupiter was 30 light minutes away, while
the Beehive is 600 ly away.
Bootes: The Shepherd
• Follow the arc of the B.D.’s handle, to a
bright star. This is Arcturus. The saying is
“Arc to Arcturus”.
• Arcturus is the 2nd brightest star in the
Northern Hemisphere. It is 25 times larger
than our sun.
• In a few hundred thousand years it will
shed off a planetary nebula.
Virgo, the ummm, Maiden
• Continue following the arc from the Big
Dipper to Acturus to Spica, another bright
star. This one is found in Virgo.
• Spica is a blue giant, 270 ly away.
This is M 104, the Sombrero Galaxy. It is found
near Virgo.
These are all galaxies found near
Virgo.
Auriga, the Charioteer
• Follow a line from the top two stars of the B.D’s
cup to Capella. This star will help form a
pentagon shape. This is Auriga, the Charioteer.
Capella is 42 ly away and is 130 times brighter
than our sun.
• Just beneath Capella is Epsilon Aurigau. It is
one of the brightest known stars in the galaxy. It
20,000 times brighter than our sun, but is 2,000
ly away.
• Epsilon Aurigau has a companion star, which
eclipses it every 27 years, making it noticeably
dimmer. This happens in 2009-2011.
Epsilon Aurigae