Latest news with #BigDipper
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The Big Dipper Holds a Celestial Surprise—Here's How to See the 'Horse and Rider'
You probably already know how to spot the seven stars in the sky that make up the famous Big Dipper. But did you know that one of the stars in its handle has a tiny companion? The pair forms their own celestial object known as the "Horse and Rider," according to 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 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
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
How to see the 'Horse and Rider' in the Big Dipper's handle this summer
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. At around 10 p.m. local daylight time on these warm June evenings, face north and look overhead to see the seven stars that compose the famous Big Dipper. At this time of the year, the handle appears to stand almost straight up while the bowl appears tilted down; draining its unknown contents toward the right. The Dipper is not a constellation in of itself, but an asterism, a prominent pattern or group of stars, typically having a popular name, belonging to a specific constellation. For most sky gazers, the Big Dipper is probably the most important group of stars in the sky. For anyone in the latitude of New York (41 degrees North) or points northward, it never goes below the horizon. It is one of the most recognizable patterns in the sky and thus one of the easiest for the novice to find. Of greatest importance is the ability to utilize the Big Dipper to locate Polaris, the North Star. This is made possible by the two bright stars that mark the outer edge of the bowl of the Big Dipper. These two stars — Dubhe and Merak — are known as the Pointers, because they always point to Polaris. Just draw a line, in your imagination, between these two stars and prolong this line about 5 times, the way our map shows; this line will ultimately hit a moderately bright star. That will be Polaris. Even those who live well south of the equator can see the Big Dipper now. During autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, it appears to hover upside-down above the northern horizon for those down to about latitude 30-degrees south. That includes the northern two-thirds of South America and virtually all of Africa. In his classic constellation guide, "The Stars — A New Way to See Them," author H.A. Rey sketched a cute cartoon on page 24 of a mother kangaroo and its joey above the caption: "The Dipper? Never seen it ..." And yet for the northern two-thirds of Australia, during April, May and June, the Dipper is plainly visible hanging low above the northern horizon. The middle star in the Dipper's handle is Zeta Ursae Majoris; the Greek letter is the given name, and the possessive of the Latin name of its constellation. In this case Ursa Major, the Great Bear — is its family name. But this particular star is far better known as "Mizar," derived from the Arabic meaning for "wrapping" or "cover." With just your eyes alone, if you look carefully, you'll notice that Mizar appears to have a fainter companion by the name of Alcor, also derived from the Arabic, meaning "faint one." The Persian Al Kazwini stated during the 13th century that people "tested their eyesight by this star." TOP TELESCOPE PICK: Want to see Alcor and the other stars of the Big Dipper? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. Mizar and Alcor were known as the "Horse and Rider" to the ancient Arabs and the Arabian writer Al Firuzabadi, in the 14th century referred to Alcor as Al Sadak, "The Test" or "The Riddle." So, when the ancient Arabs remarked: "He can see Alcor," they were alluding to someone who had normal vision. Why not test your own eyesight by looking for Alcor tonight? Alcor is one-fifth as bright as Mizar and the two stars are separated by roughly one-third of the apparent diameter of the moon. Both stars are located about 83 light-years away and recent observations suggest that Alcor is traveling around Mizar in a wide orbit that takes 750,000 years to complete. Binoculars provide a better view of this pair, but there's more to see here than many skywatchers realize. As an example, Mizar, is in itself a true binary star; one of the first to be observed and identified as a binary pair by astronomers in the 17th century. A binary star is two or more stars that are physically connected with each other and are "locked" or connected together by gravity. They actually orbit each other in a fashion similar to the Earth and the planets orbiting the sun or the moon orbiting the Earth. To see the companion of Mizar you'll need a small telescope and an eyepiece providing a magnification of at least 50-power. Between Mizar and Alcor and a little to their south is an 8th-magnitude star that was once mistaken for a new planet. In December 1722, the German professor Johann Georg Liebknecht announced that this object had just moved into its present position. He christened his "planet" Sidus Ludoviciana — Ludwig's Star — to flatter his local sovereign Ludwig V of Hesse-Darmstadt in hopes of being granted money. The object never moved again. Liebknecht disappeared in a hail of ridicule, but amazingly the name of the "faux" or "ersatz" planet remains to this very day! If you draw a line east from Mizar through Alcor, you'll come across a 5th-magnitude star, glowing with a distinct ruddy hue. That's 83 Ursae Majoris, a red giant star roughly 80 times larger and about 1,300 times more luminous than the sun. It's located at a distance of 580 light-years from us. If you continue onward along the same line at about twice the distance past 83, you'll come to the big, but dim galaxy M101. Under a dark sky M101 appears in 7 x 50 and larger binoculars in much the same way that its discoverer Pierre Méchain described it in 1781: "very obscure and pretty large." It is popularly known as the "Pinwheel Galaxy," and at 21 million light years, it is one of the closer spiral galaxies to our Milky Way. But in order to perceive its spiral structure, you'll need a rather large telescope, very dark skies and a low-power eyepiece. Finally, our familiar Dipper will not last forever. Of the seven stars that make up this pattern, five apparently belong to a loosely joined swarm of stars, all hurtling through space at roughly the same speed and the same direction. These five range in distances from 78 to 84 light-years from Earth. Two of the stars, however — Dubhe (the northern Pointer) and Alkaid (the star at the end of the handle) — are not part of the swarm and appear to be rushing at even greater speeds in the opposite direction. Alkaid is 101 light-years away, while Dubhe is 124 light-years distant. These opposing motions will slowly alter the form of the Big Dipper. In short, the Dipper is slowly going to pieces. The bent handle will bend still more as time wears on, while the bowl will spread. Granted, it will still remain a fairly convincing dipper for about the next 25,000 years, but 50,000 years (or 2,000 generations) from now it will be hopelessly out of shape. If you're looking for a telescope or binoculars to observe the night sky, our guides for the best binoculars deals and the best telescope deals now can help. Our guides on the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography can also help you prepare to capture the next skywatching sight. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Wyoming Skies: June brings summer solstice and constellations in every direction
June 20, 2025, brings us the summer solstice. Supposedly, that means warmer weather has finally arrived in Wyoming. This month, if you go out after it gets dark, you will see some wonderful stars and constellations in every direction. If you face north you will see a 'W' above the northern horizon; those five stars are the constellation Cassiopeia. The Little Dipper, also known as Ursa Minor, is halfway above the northern horizon. And almost overhead you can see the Big Dipper, the most well-known group of stars in Ursa Major. If you follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper you'll run into the brilliant star Arcturus. Arcturus marks the bottom of Boötes, a constellation that looks like a kite or ice cream cone. If you continue the arc from the handle of the Big Dipper, you'll hit another bright star, that is Spica in the constellation Virgo. And follow that curve to Corvus, a quadrilateral-shape group of stars. Facing west you'll see the twin stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, above the horizon. They'll slip toward the horizon more each day. And higher in the sky, you can see the spring constellation of Leo. It's easily picked out by locating the Sickle, a group of stars that look like a backward question mark. The bright star at the bottom of the Sickle is Regulus. If you look to the south, you can see two constellations very close to the horizon; Scorpius resembles a fishhook or the letter 'J,' and Sagittarius is obvious as a group of stars that resembles an old-fashioned teapot. And here's a fun fact, the spout of the Teapot it is pointing toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Finally, when you face east you will see a definite sign that summer is here because the Summer Triangle shines brightly in the sky. The Summer Triangle is made up of these three bright stars: Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus, and Altair in Aquila. Under dark skies, you'll see the Milky Way arching up from the northeast horizon, starting under Cassiopeia, passing overhead through Cygnus and Aquila, finally ending up in the south going through Sagittarius and Scorpius. What's cool about the Milky Way is that this glowing patch of stars, gas and dust is a spiral arm of our galaxy. In order of brightness in the evening sky you will find: Mercury, Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Altair, Antares, Spica, Pollux, Deneb, Regulus and Mars. Planets this month are split between the evening and morning sky. In the June evening sky, look for Mars as a steady red light slowly moving across the stars of Leo. Mars will be closest to the bright star Regulus on the evening of June 16. Jupiter has dominated the evening sky for months, but is challenging to spot in the bright western twilight and will slip away toward the beginning of the month. It's being replaced by Mercury emerging in the evening sky about 30-40 minutes after sunset. Mercury will reach its greatest distance from the sun on July 4. Morning observers can catch brilliant Venus before dawn; it reached its greatest distance from the sun at the end of May. Golden Saturn is higher in the sky than Venus and will move away from Venus each day. The moon is a great way to locate stars and planets. The moon is near Mars on the evening of June 1, and will float near Saturn on the mornings of June 18 and 19. Then it visits Venus on the mornings of June 21 and 22. Then it will move back to the evening sky, so the moon will float near Mercury on June 26 and will pay Mars another visit on the evening of June 29. The full moon of June occurs overnight on June 10-11. It's the Full Strawberry Moon — named to coincide with the abundance of strawberries harvested this month — and will lie near the bright star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. The full moon will be visible all night. A fun trio to look for on the evenings around June 24 is Mercury forming a line with Pollux and Castor in the evening twilight. Binoculars might help spot them. There is a meteor shower this month that might be worth watching for before dawn on the morning of June 7. It's the daytime Arietids. They are the most active daytime meteor shower, but how can you watch for them in the daytime? Its radiant — or point where the meteors seem to originate — rises before the sun. So you might catch meteors shooting up from the horizon before dawn. How fun would that be to see?
The Age
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
The Sydney football club fighting plans for 200 apartments
A Sydney football club is fighting against a plan to build eight-storey apartment blocks overlooking its home ground, worried that an influx of neighbours will bring a barrage of noise complaints. Developer Platino Properties has lodged a planning proposal seeking permission to construct four buildings – two with eight storeys and two with six storeys – on industrial land next to Lambert Park, home of the APIA Leichhardt Football Club. The development is the latest example of rising tensions between locals and developers in the inner west, as established suburbs are set to get more high-density buildings under council's mass rezoning plan to deliver 30,000 new homes. APIA president Tony Raciti fears that once residents move into the new units, the club will become 'the next Luna Park' and that it will be flooded with complaints from neighbours. In 1995, the NSW Supreme Court restricted the operating hours of the Big Dipper rollercoaster after a group of neighbouring residents complained about noise. 'It's a sports facility used from 7am up to 10pm, and we make a lot of noise. We scream, shout, the referees blow whistles, floodlights would be penetrating into people's bedrooms,' he said. 'We aren't anti-housing. We want skyscrapers in Leichhardt. The more people that move here, the more registrations we get – [but this proposal] is just not compatible.' The developer wants to build 210 dwellings with retail space on the ground floor and extra public green space. The site is next to the light rail tracks and the GreenWay, and a short walk to the Marion stop. Currently, the site is occupied by a warehouse and car parking spaces.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney football club fighting plans for 200 apartments
A Sydney football club is fighting against a plan to build eight-storey apartment blocks overlooking its home ground, worried that an influx of neighbours will bring a barrage of noise complaints. Developer Platino Properties has lodged a planning proposal seeking permission to construct four buildings – two with eight storeys and two with six storeys – on industrial land next to Lambert Park, home of the APIA Leichhardt Football Club. The development is the latest example of rising tensions between locals and developers in the inner west, as established suburbs are set to get more high-density buildings under council's mass rezoning plan to deliver 30,000 new homes. APIA president Tony Raciti fears that once residents move into the new units, the club will become 'the next Luna Park' and that it will be flooded with complaints from neighbours. In 1995, the NSW Supreme Court restricted the operating hours of the Big Dipper rollercoaster after a group of neighbouring residents complained about noise. 'It's a sports facility used from 7am up to 10pm, and we make a lot of noise. We scream, shout, the referees blow whistles, floodlights would be penetrating into people's bedrooms,' he said. 'We aren't anti-housing. We want skyscrapers in Leichhardt. The more people that move here, the more registrations we get – [but this proposal] is just not compatible.' The developer wants to build 210 dwellings with retail space on the ground floor and extra public green space. The site is next to the light rail tracks and the GreenWay, and a short walk to the Marion stop. Currently, the site is occupied by a warehouse and car parking spaces.
