Latest news with #constellation
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Starwatch: Summer is the time to look for the constellation Sagittarius
It's a good time of year to track down the summer constellation of Sagittarius, the archer, who is usually depicted as a centaur drawing a bow. The chart shows the view looking south from London at 23:00 BST on 28 July, when the most recognisable portion of the constellation will be visible. Often called the teapot because of its distinctive shape, it fits into the larger constellation. The teapot's spout, as represented by the star Alnasl, depicts the arrow's sharp head in the full constellation. The lid and handle represent the upper body and outstretched arms. The full constellation never rises above the UK horizon and is anyway composed of much fainter stars than the teapot, making it more difficult to see except under excellent sky conditions at more southerly latitudes. One of the zodiacal constellations, Sagittarius was also included on Ptolemy's original list of 48 constellations, made in the 2nd century AD. According to classical myths, Sagittarius either represents Chiron, the wisest of all the centaurs, or the satyr Crotus, the inventor of archery. At this time of year, the constellation is high in the southern hemisphere sky.
Forbes
6 days ago
- General
- Forbes
See Today's New Moon Reveal The Zodiac's Forgotten 13th Constellation
Wallpaper with constellation Ophiuchus in night sky What is the 13th constellation? Not many people know about Ophiuchus (pronounced 'Oh-few-cuss'), the serpent bearer, a vast constellation of summer — but they should. Not only is it sizeable, but by rights, it should be a star sign because, like Leo, Aquarius and Sagittarius, it's on the zodiac. This week is ideal for finding Ophiuchus in the night sky, with today — the date of the new moon — the best night. With the moon lost in the glare of the sun, the night sky will be moonless. What Is Ophiuchus? One of the zodiac's most overlooked constellations, Ophiuchus, is an ancient star pattern that sits between the better-known constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius. Like the 12 zodiac signs celebrated in horoscopes, the sun passes through Ophiuchus from Nov. 29 to Dec. 18 each year. Where And When To Look Head out after dark on July 24 — or anytime this week when the moon is not in the sky — and look toward the south. In between the prominent stars of the Summer Triangle (above) and the stinger of Scorpius (below) is Ophiuchus. Its stars are fainter, but with dark skies, they're within reach — particularly if you observe from away from light pollution. The easiest way to see Ophiuchus is to begin by finding Rasalhague, its brightest star. What You'll See Ophiuchus isn't very bright, but it stretches impressively across the summer sky. Its brightest star, Rasalhague, lies near the top of the constellation and shines at magnitude 2.1 — bright enough to catch the eye. If you're familiar with the Summer Triangle, try adding Rasalhague as a fourth point to create a 'Summer Diamond' pattern. While you won't be able to see it, inside the stars of Ophiuchus is Barnard's Star, which, at six light-years from the sun, is the fourth-closest star system to our own. What's Next In The Night Sky On Friday, July 25, skywatchers have a rare chance to spot a 2%-illuminated waxing crescent moon just after sunset. It will be low in the northwest and begin a string of evenings when a crescent moon will shine after sunset, rising a little higher and becoming a little brighter with each passing night. For exact timings, use a sunrise and sunset calculator for where you are, Stellarium Web for a sky chart and Night Sky Tonight: Visible Planets at Your Location for positions and rise/set times for planets. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Alpha Capricornids meteor shower: How to watch in the UK
Have you ever seen a meteor shower? If not, this summer could be your chance. From 3 July to 15 August you might be able to spot the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower in our skies, with the shower producing its peak rate of meteors on 30 July. There are usually several opportunities to see meteor showers in the UK throughout the on to find out how to spot the Capricornids and others in the future. What is a meteor and meteor shower? Some people call meteor showers shooting stars, but they aren't really stars, just tiny chunks of rock burning up in the Earth's or meteoroids are small pieces of space debris or rock that fall towards Earth's atmosphere where they burn the space rock falls towards Earth the resistance of it makes it extremely produces a bright streak of glowing hot air behind it. So, what we see isn't actually the falling rock - it's the glowing heat around it - racing across the Earth encounters many meteoroids at once, we call it a meteor shower. How can I see the Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower? Meteor showers are named for the constellation where the meteors appear to be coming example, the meteor shower happening this month is the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower, as this is the constellation that the meteor appears to be coming from. To see a meteor shower you don't need any special equipment, but a pair of binoculars can help. The best time to spot this shower will be after midnight on or around 30 July. Top tips on spotting meteor showers As mentioned you can see the shooting stars with the naked eye, so you won't need any special the best chance to spot a meteor shower you should find a location with minimal light possible it is better to go away from urban areas where the light pollution from buildings, car headlights, street lamps and neon signs can cause too much up warm and bring a chair and some thick blankets so you can sit or lie down and look up for long periods without getting neck strain, or getting too luck, stargazers!
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Betelgeuse's companion star finally located after years of debate
Humans have gazed up at Betelgeuse for thousands of years. As one of the night sky's brightest stars, the red supergiant is easily discernible from its location in the Orion constellation. But for a few months in 2019 and 2020, astronomers believed Betelgeuse's days were numbered. A dramatic decrease in luminosity led some experts to theorize the 10-million-year-old star with a radius 700 times larger than our sun was about to go supernova. In the end, however, researchers determined that the 'Great Dimming' was actually caused by the star ejecting a large dust plume. But all of that extra attention has led to another remarkable find. As it turns out, Betegeuse isn't alone—it actually has a nearby companion star. The never-before-seen celestial object is detailed in two separate studies scheduled to publish on July 24 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The main clue that tipped astronomers off to the companion star came in the form of Betelgeuse's luminosity intervals, also known as variabilities. The red supergiant actually has two variability periods—a primary one lasting about 400 days, and a secondary that lasts roughly 6 years. After reviewing the star's archival data, researchers recently proposed the longer secondary phase may be due to an external influence in the form of a companion star. But even with an initial search party that included the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, investigators didn't locate any additional stellar objects. Some experts were doubtful that anyone would ever locate the star, even if it existed. 'Papers that predicted Betelgeuse's companion believed that no one would likely ever be able to image it,' Steve Howell, a senior research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and study co-author, explained in a statement. That changed after the team enlisted the help of a 'fox.' Mounted on the International Gemini Observatory's Gemini North telescope on Hawai'i's Mauna Kea is a speckle imager named 'Alopeke—the Hawai'ian word for fox. Speckle imagers work by using short exposure times to negate image distortions caused by Earth's atmosphere. This allows for high-resolution looks into the cosmos, in this case with a boost from Gemini North's 26.5-inch mirror. This method allowed astrophysicists to finally locate an extremely faint companion next to Betelgeuse. Further analysis indicates the second star is six magnitudes fainter than Betelgeuse with a mass about 1.5 times that of the sun. It also is likely an A- or B-type pre-main-sequence star, meaning it is a young, hot blue-white star that isn't yet burning hydrogen in its core. Betelgeuse and its companion star were likely born at the same time, but their relationship won't end well. According to the study's authors, tidal forces will eventually cause the latter object to spiral into its partner, initiating an end to both of them. That said, astronomers estimate the pair's finale will take place sometime within the next 10,000 years. But before that, researchers hope to study the two stars even more. Their next chance will begin in November 2027, when the stellar companion's orbit places it at its furthest distance from Betelgeuse. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
James Webb Spots Planets Forming Into Solar System in Real Time, Like an Organism's First Cells
Astronomers have spotted a planetary system being conceived from the swirl of gas and dust surrounding a star — giving us an unprecedented, real-time look at how our solar system would've formed some 4.6 billion years ago. The findings, published as a study in the journal Nature, are the first time we're seeing such an early stage of planets being formed anywhere in the cosmos. "We've captured a direct glimpse of the hot region where rocky planets like Earth are born around young protostars," lead author Melissa McClure at the Leiden Observatory told the Associated Press. "For the first time, we can conclusively say that the first steps of planet formation are happening right now." Inchoate planetary systems have been spotted before — but they were further along in their development. Instead, what's been captured here, using the James Webb Telescope and the ALMA telescope in Chile, is roughly the equivalent of an organism's first cells being formed. The baby star, or protostar, orchestrating the system's birth is HOPS-315, a G-type star like our Sun — though much younger — located some 1,370 light years away in the constellation Orion. HOPS-315 is surrounded by a hot, rotating circumstellar envelope of gas and dust called a protoplanetary disk. There, the astronomers spotted reservoirs of matter condensing together to form solid mineral grains. Over millions of years, the mineral grains will cool off and coalesce to form larger planetesimals, which serve as building blocks of a nascent planet — either going straight to being a rocky planet like Earth, or the solid core of a giant planet like Jupiter or Uranus. Crucially, the building materials the astronomers detected were silicon monoxide gas and crystalline silicate minerals, which are believed to have played a major role in our own system's birth. "This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disk — or anywhere outside our solar system," co-author Edwin Bergin, a professor at the University of Michigan, said in a statement about the work. Per the AP, the solid formation is taking place in a location equivalent to the asteroid belt in our own star system between Mars and Jupiter, where the leftover materials of our system's planet forming years can still be found. Asteroids are ancient planetesimals that never got a chance to make it big, still harboring stores of silicon monoxide and crystalline silicate that astronomers have dated to estimate the timeline of the solar system's formation. The silicon monoxode and crystalline silicate were first spotted by the James Webb, indicating the presence of a protoplanetary disk. But the data wasn't clear enough to determine the exact location they were originating around the star. Fortuitously, Nature noted, the disk was oriented in a way that allowed astronomers to see it unobstructed by HOPS-315's outflow, a highly energetic jet of material that fell onto the star before being blasted into space. Outflows tend to overpower the infrared spectrum that astronomers favor to inspect dense regions like a protoplanetary disk. Thanks to the disk's orientation, though, the ALMA telescope was able to pinpoint the mineral signal's origins to a location about 2.2 astronomical units away from the star, or about 2.2 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. "We're really seeing these minerals at the same location in this extrasolar system as where we see them in asteroids in the Solar System," co-author Logan Francis, a researcher at Leiden University, said in the statement. Many aspects of our solar system's origins remain a mystery, and astronomers can't confidently say how unique its formation is. Can we use it as a blueprint for how planetary systems form throughout the cosmos, or are we a relative oddity? HOPS-315 suggests we have at least a handful of peers. To know for sure, we'll have to check back on how it's doing in a few million years — or more realistically, the James Webb and ALMA telescope will spot more burgeoning systems for us to pry into. More on astronomy: James Webb Space Telescope Spots Stellar Death Shrouds Solve the daily Crossword
