The Big Dipper Holds a Celestial Surprise—Here's How to See the 'Horse and Rider'
Summer is a good time to view the Big Dipper because it's high in the northern sky during the evening. The Big Dipper is not a constellation itself, but an asterism within the constellation Ursa Major. It's visible throughout the year in the Northern Hemisphere, but it's most prominent during the spring and summer.
Related: A New Dwarf Planet Has Joined Our Solar System's Family—Meet Pluto's 'Extreme Cousin'
This means that there's a better chance you'll be able to spot some of the hidden gems found in this star grouping. For example, the middle star in the Dipper's handle, known as Mizar, has a fainter companion by the name of Alcor, which is derived from Arabic, meaning faint one.
Mizar and Alcor were known as the "Horse and Rider" as early as the ancient Arabian writer Al Firuzabadi. You can spot them with the naked eye, if you look carefully, but binoculars provide a better view.
You'll also want to see the Big Dipper while you can. Of the seven stars that make up the recognizable grouping, five are hurtling through space at roughly the same speed and the same direction, according Space.com. But two of the seven stars appear to be rushing at greater speeds in the opposite direction. This will slowly alter the form of the Big Dipper. But don't worry, it'll stay the same for about the next 25,000 years.
Read the original article on Martha Stewart
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Astronomers track object that may have originated outside the solar system
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers are monitoring an object headed our way that may have wandered over from another star system. Scientists have discovered what might be only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, the European Space Agency said Wednesday. The harmless object is currently near Jupiter hundreds of millions of miles (kilometers) away and moving toward Mars, but it should get no closer to the sun than that, according to scientists. It's too soon to know whether the object, designated for now as A11pl3Z, is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet, or how big and what shape it is. More observations are needed to confirm its origins. NASA said it is monitoring the situation. Astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, believes it is an interstellar object based on its odd path and extreme speed cutting through the solar system. He estimates its size at roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers) across. The first confirmed interstellar visitor was in 2017. It was dubbed Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honor of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it. Classified at first as an asteroid, the elongated Oumuamua has since showed signs of being a comet. The second object confirmed to have strayed from another star system into our own is 21/Borisov, discovered in 2019 and believed to be a comet. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Scientists tracking ‘interstellar' object that has come to us from another solar system
Astronomers may have just discovered a new interstellar object passing through our solar system. The object, a celestial body from another star system, was discovered on Tuesday by the University of Hawaii's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, team. At this point, it remains unclear what the object may be or look like as it moves near Jupiter. Now, scientists are checking to confirm their findings. 'ESA's Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as #A11pl3Z, right now using telescopes around the world,' the European Space Agency said in a social media post on Wednesday. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration told The Associated Press that it is monitoring the situation. David Rankin, of the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, said in posts on BlueSky that follow-up observations were made not long after the discovery. A precovery — observations from archival images in which the object was not originally discovered — from CalTech's Zwicky Transient Facility hinted at the presence of an interstellar object. 'After a few more precovery observations, and follow-ups, it became clear this object is on a hyperbolic trajectory through the solar system,' Rankin wrote. Since then, new observations have been 'rolling in,' helping astronomers to better determine its orbit. Rankin noted that the first known interstellar object to visit our solar system was 'Oumuamua, which was spotted in 2017. Up to one-quarter mile-long and 10 times as long as it is wide, its resembles a rocky cigar with a reddish hue. Its aspect ratio, which is greater than that of any asteroid or comet observed in our solar system to date, even led to speculation that it could be an alien spacecraft. Observations then suggested that it had been wandering through our Milky Way galaxy for hundreds of millions of years before its encounter with our star system, according to NASA. The second known object was Comet 2I/Borisov, found in 2019. It is the first confirmed interstellar comet, and was later captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists believe that many more such objects regularly pass by the Earth, with a number of them flying relatively near to us each year. However, many of them go undetected because they are hard to spot and it is difficult to know for sure where they have come from. Researchers hope to eventually learn more about them and even use them as evidence for distant star systems and planets. They also hope to find more of them in the years to come, thanks to new and more powerful telescopes, such as the recently switched-on Vera C Rubin Observatory.
Digital Trends
7 hours ago
- Digital Trends
NASA's skywatching tips for July include an ‘eagle'
NASA is back with its monthly roundup on what to look out for in the skies over the coming weeks. And there's plenty to enjoy. The planets take center stage this month, with July offering a great chance to view Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter. You'll be able to see Mercury for a brief period following sunset during the first week of July. Cast your gaze very low in the west 30 to 45 minutes after sundown. Mercury sets within the hour after that, so be sure to carefully pinpoint it before it vanishes from view. Next up, Mars. The red planet will be visible for the first hour or two after it gets dark. 'You'll find it sinking lower in the sky each day and looking a bit dimmer over the course of the month, as our two planets' orbits carry them farther apart,' NASA says in its latest roundup video (top), adding that the crescent moon will appear right next to Mars on July 28. The space agency also notes that July marks the 60th anniversary of the first successful flyby of Mars, by NASA's Mariner 4 spacecraft. During the mission, Mariner 4 also became the first spacecraft to beam back photos of another planet. Saturn — the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest planet in our solar system — rises late in the evening this month, and by dawn appears high overhead to the south. Meanwhile, Venus — our brightest planet — will be shining brightly throughout the month, making it easy to spot. However, you'll have to wake up early as it's only viewable a couple of hours before sunrise, toward the east. Last but not least, Jupiter — the largest planet in our solar system — will be rising in the hour before sunrise and appearing a little higher with each passing day. NASA also points out that July and August is an excellent chance to view the constellation Aquila, also known as the eagle as its star pattern resembles an eagle in flight. 'This time of year, it soars high into the sky in the first half of the night,' NASA says. adding that to find it, first locate its brightest star, Altair. 'It's one of the three bright stars in the Summer Triangle, which is super easy to pick out during summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. Altair is the second brightest of the three, and sits at the southernmost corner of the triangle.' Check out the video for more details — including helpful images — on how to view Aquila and also the planets.
