Stars and Planets Prominent Stars and ConStelLations
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© Copyright, Princeton University Press. No part of this book may be 6 distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical Introduction 7 introduction means without prior written permission of the publisher. δ γ γ The night sky is one of the most beautiful and Vega have a bluish tinge. Binoculars β ε sights in nature. Yet many people remain bring out the colours more readily than the δ lost among the jostling crowd of stars, and naked eye does. Section II of this book, start are baffled by the progress ively chang ing ap - ing on page 267, explains more fully the dif α β ε pearance of the sky from hour to hour and ferent types of star that exist. from season to season. The charts and de By contrast, planets are cold bodies that scriptions in this book will guide you to the shine by re flecting the Sun’s light. They too α most splendid celestial sights, many of them are described in more detail in Section II, within the range of simple optical equipment from page 304 onwards. The planets are such as binoculars, and all accessible with an constantly on the move as they orbit the average-sized telescope of the type used by Sun. Four of them can be easily seen with amateur as tronomers. the naked eye: Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Constellations: Stars in a constellation are usually Medi terranean regions; Hevelius and others It must be emphasized that you do not Saturn. Venus, the brightest of all, appears as unrelated to one another. Above, the stars of invented constellations to fill in the gaps need a telescope to take up stargazing. Use a dazzl ing ob ject in the even ing or morn ing Crux, the Southern Cross, are shown as they between the fgures recognized by the Greeks. the charts in this book to find your way sky. Charts showing the positions of Mars, appear from Earth, left, and in a 3D view as they The whole process sounds rather arbitrary, among the stars first with your own eyes, and Jupiter and Saturn for a 5-year period can be actually lie in space, right. (Wil Tirion) and indeed it was. A number of the newly then with the aid of binoculars, which bring found on the HarperCollins website: devised patterns fell into dis use, leav ing a the stars more readily into view. Binoculars www.collins.co.uk/starsandplanets total of 88 constellations that were officially are a worth while invest ment, being relatively About 2000 stars are visible to the naked and Telescopium. Whether large or small, adopted by the Inter national As tronomical cheap, easy to carry and useful for many eye on a clear, dark night, but you will not bright or faint, each constellation is given a Union (IAU), astronomy’s governing body, pur poses other than star gazing. need to learn them all. Start by identifying separate chart and description in this book. in 1922 (see the table on pages 8–9). the brightest stars and major con stel lations, The main constellations were devised at the As well as the officially recognized constel and use these as signposts to the fainter, less dawn of history by Middle Eastern peoples lations, you can find other patterns among Stars and planets prominent stars and con stel lations. Once you who fancied that they could see a likeness the stars called as terisms. An asterism can be know the main features of the night sky, you to certain fabled creatures and mytho - composed of stars belonging to one or more In the night sky, stars appear to the naked will never again be lost among the stars. logical heroes among the stars. Of particular con stel lations. Well-known examples are the eye as spiky, twinkling lights. Those stars impor tance were the 12 constellations of the Plough or Big Dipper (part of Ursa Major), near the horizon seem to flash and change zodiac, through which the Sun passes during the Square of Pegasus, the Sickle of Leo and colour. The twinkling and fashing effects Constellations its yearly path around the heavens. However, the Teapot of Sagittarius. are due not to the stars themselves but to the it should be realized that the astrological Earth’s atmos phere: turbulent air currents The sky is divided into 88 sections known ‘signs’ of the zodiac are not the same as the cause the stars’ light to dance around. The as con stel lations which as tronomers use as modern as tronomical con stel lations, even Star names steadiness of the atmosphere is referred to as a convenient way of locating and naming though they share the same names. the seeing . Steady air means good seeing. celestial objects. Most of the stars in a Our modern system of con stel lations derives The main stars in each constellation are The spikiness of star images is due to optical constellation have no real connection with from a catalogue of 48 compiled by the Greek la belled with a letter of the Greek al pha bet, effects in the observer’s eye. In reality, stars one another at all; they may lie at vastly as tron omer Ptolemy in ad 150. This list was the brightest star usually (but not always!) are spheres of gas similar to our own Sun, differing distances from Earth, and form a ex panded by navi gators and celes tial map - being termed α (alpha). Notable ex ceptions emitting their own heat and light. pattern simply by chance. Incidentally, when makers, notably the Dutchmen Pieter Dirks in which the stars marked β (beta) are in Stars come in various sizes, from giants to astronomers talk of an object being ‘in’ a zoon Keyser (c. 1540–96) and Frederick de fact the brightest in clude the con stel lations dwarfs, and in a range of colours according given constellation they mean that it lies in Houtman (1571–1627), the Pole Johannes Orion and Gemini. The entire Greek alpha to their temperature. At first glance all stars that particular area of sky. Hevelius (see page 166) and the Frenchman bet is given in the table on page 10. ap pear white, but more careful in spection Some con stel lations are easier to recognize Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (see page 216). Par ticularly con fus ing are the southern reveals that certain ones are somewhat orange, than others, such as the magnificent Orion Keyser and de Hout man in tro duced con stel lations Vela and Puppis, which were notably Be telgeuse, Antares, Al debaran and or the distinctive Cassiopeia and Crux. 12 new constellations, and Lacaille 14, in once joined with Carina to make the exten Arcturus, while others such as Rigel, Spica Others are faint and obscure, such as Lynx parts of the southern sky not visible from sive fgure of Argo Navis, the ship of the For general queries, contact [email protected] Stars_Planets_5th_pages.indb 6-7 16/02/2017 10:36 © Copyright, Princeton University Press. No part of this book may be 8 Introduction distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical Introduction 9 means without prior written permission of the publisher. Name Genitive Ab brevn. Area Order Origin* THE 88 CON STEL LATIONS (square of degs.) size Name Genitive Ab brevn. Area Order Origin* (square of degs.) size Libra Librae Lib 538 29 1 Lupus Lupi Lup 334 46 1 Lynx Lyncis Lyn 545 28 5 An dromeda An dromedae And 722 19 1 Lyra Lyrae Lyr 286 52 1 An tlia An tliae Ant 239 62 6 Mensa Mensae Men 153 75 6 Apus Apo dis Aps 206 67 3 Micro scopium Micro scopii Mic 210 66 6 Aquarius Aquarii Aqr 980 10 1 Monoceros Monocerotis Mon 482 35 4 Aquila Aquilae Aql 652 22 1 Musca Muscae Mus 138 77 3 Ara Arae Ara 237 63 1 Norma Normae Nor 165 74 6 Aries Arietis Ari 441 39 1 Octans Oct antis Oct 291 50 6 Aur iga Aur igae Aur 657 21 1 Ophiuchus Ophiuchi Oph 948 11 1 Boötes Boö tis Boo 907 13 1 Orion Orionis Ori 594 26 1 Caelum Caeli Cae 125 81 6 Pavo Pavonis Pav 378 44 3 Ca mel opardalis Ca mel opardalis Cam 757 18 4 Pegasus Pegasi Peg 1121 7 1 Cancer Can cri Cnc 506 31 1 Per seus Per sei Per 615 24 1 Canes Venatici Canum Venaticorum CVn 465 38 5 Phoenix Phoenicis Phe 469 37 3 Canis Major Canis Majoris CMa 380 43 1 Pictor Pictoris Pic 247 59 6 Canis Minor Canis Minoris CMi 183 71 1 Pisces Piscium Psc 889 14 1 Capricornus Capricorni Cap 414 40 1 Piscis Aus trinus Piscis Aus trini PsA 245 60 1 Carina Carinae Car 494 34 6 Puppis Puppis Pup 673 20 6 Cassiopeia Cassiopeiae Cas 598 25 1 Pyxis Pyxi dis Pyx 221 65 6 Centaurus Cent auri Cen 1060 9 1 Reticulum Reticuli Ret 114 82 6 Cepheus Cephei Cep 588 27 1 Sagitta Sagittae Sge 80 86 1 Cetus Ceti Cet 1231 4 1 Sagittarius Sagittarii Sgr 867 15 1 Chamaeleon Chamaeleontis Cha 132 79 3 Scorpius Scorpii Sco 497 33 1 Circinus Circini Cir 93 85 6 Sculptor Sculptoris Scl 475 36 6 Columba Colum bae Col 270 54 4 Scutum Scuti Sct 109 84 5 Coma Berenices Comae Berenices Com 386 42 2 Serpens Serpentis Ser 637 23 1 Corona Aus tralis Coronae Aus tralis CrA 128 80 1 Sex tans Sex tantis Sex 314 47 5 Corona Borealis Coronae Borealis CrB 179 73 1 Taurus Tauri Tau 797 17 1 Cor vus Corvi Crv 184 70 1 Tele scopium Tele scopii Tel 252 57 6 Crater Crateris Crt 282 53 1 Triangulum Trianguli Tri 132 78 1 Crux Crucis Cru 68 88 4 Triangulum Aus trale Trianguli Aus tralis TrA 110 83 3 Cyg nus Cygni Cyg 804 16 1 Tuc ana Tuc anae Tuc 295 48 3 Del phinus Del phini Del 189 69 1 Ursa Major Ursae Majoris UMa 1280 3 1 Dorado Doradus Dor 179 72 3 Ursa Minor Ursae Minoris UMi 256 56 1 Draco Draconis Dra 1083 8 1 Vela Velorum Vel 500 32 6 Equu leus Equu lei Equ 72 87 1 Virgo Virginis Vir 1294 2 1 Erid anus Erid ani Eri 1138 6 1 Volans Vol antis Vol 141 76 3 For nax For nacis For 398 41 6 Vulpecula Vulpeculae Vul 268 55 5 Gemini Geminorum Gem 514 30 1 Grus Gruis Gru 366 45 3 Hercules Herculis Her 1225 5 1 * Origin: Horologium Horologii Hor 249 58 6 1 One of the original 48 Greek constellations listed by Ptolemy.