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Sagitta and Vulpecula Sagitta and Vulpecula Michael L Allen [email protected] Palouse Divide Lodge Star Party 2019 Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 1 / 29 Outline 1 Sagitta and Vulpecula in the sky 2 Mythology 3 Stars 4 Star clusters 5 Planetary nebulae Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 2 / 29 Sagitta (the Arrow) Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 3 / 29 Sagitta: mythology Sagitta is an ancient constellation, appearing in the Phenomena of Aratus (4th century BCE), and in the foundational works of Eratosthenes (3rd century BCE) and Hipparchos (2nd century BCE). Sagitta is one of the 48 constellations of Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century CE) from which the modern western constellations are derived. Sagitta has no named stars. Its brightest star, gamma, shines with 3rd magnitude. Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 4 / 29 Sagitta: mythology The most common story deals with Prometheus and the theme of punishment. Prometheus, a Titan in Greek mythology, stole fire and gave it to humans, thus empowering them technologically. Zeus punished this theft by chain- ing Prometheus to a cliff, where Aquila (the Eagle) would eat away his liver. When Hercules dis- covered Prometheus in chains, he killed Aquila with an arrow. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herakles Prometheus Louvre MNE1309.jpg Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 5 / 29 Sagitta: mythology Eratosthenes ascribed Sagitta to the arrows of Apollo. The cy- clopes were a race of giants who helped Zeus overthrow the Ti- tans. Zeus slew Asclepius (Ophi- uchus) as punishment for resur- recting the dead. In retaliation, Apollo slew the cyclopes. Apollo was sentenced to a year of servi- tude, which he chose to serve with King Admetus. Admetus greatly benefitted from this. The story was dramatized by Euripides (5th century BCE). https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Polyphemus.png Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 6 / 29 Sagitta: mythology Another story has Sagitta as the arrows used by Hercules to slay the Stymphalian birds. The birds were a destructive flock inhabiting Lake Stymphalia, near Corinth. In Hercules' 6th labor, he used a rat- tle to scare the birds into the air, where he slew them one by one. The birds found a new nesting ground on an island in the Black Sea, where they were found by the Argonauts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stymphalian birds Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 7 / 29 Sagitta: mythology Throughout later Arabic and Latin times, the constellation was known variously as the canna (the reed from which arrows were made), the weapon, the javelin, the dart, the pole, the five stars, the spear, and the nail of the cru- cifixion of Christ. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundo donax Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 8 / 29 Vulpecula (the Fox) Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 9 / 29 Flamsteed Atlas (1690) Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 10 / 29 Vulpecula: mythology Vulpecula has no origin in mythology. It first appeared in the star atlas of Johannes Hevelius (1687). He called it Vulpecula & Anser, the Fox and Goose. On some star atlases the Fox and Goose were separated into two, but eventually the Goose was dropped entirely from the sky. Vulpecula's brightest star, alpha, shines with 4th magnitude. Its proper name is Anser. Note in Flamsteed's atlas the defunct constellation Cerberus, the multi-headed hound of Hades, who prevents the dead from leaving. Hercules captures Cerberus in one of his labors. Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 11 / 29 Double stars Name Mag Separation Anser (alpha Vul) 4.4 and 5.8 428 arcsec Albireo (beta Cyg) 3.1 and 5.1 35 arcsec zeta Sge 5.6 (AB) and 9.0 (C) 8 arcsec 13 Sge 4.5 and 7.3 1 arcsec Interestingly, zeta Sge components A and B were first split by Alvan Clark in 1891; the pair are 0.1 arcsec apart; both are 6th magnitude; they are described as greenish, white, and blue (A, B, and C). Anser is a high velocity star, v of about 200 km/sec. Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 12 / 29 The Coathanger asterism First described by Al Sufi in Isfahan (964) Also called Brocchi's Cluster, after Dalmero Brocchi (1920s) who proposed it as a photometric standard for the AAVSO Also called Collinder 399 after Per Collinder (1931) The Hipparchos satellite determined it was not a real cluster Brightest member is 4 Vul at 5th magnitude Use the stars in the straight line to find the open cluster NGC 6802 Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 13 / 29 NGC 6802 Open cluster, apparent diameter 5 arcmin, distance 6,000 ly, age 1 billion years, about 1,500 stars total, fairly densely-packed center, integrated magnitude about 9 Ozeren et al 2014, New Astronomy, v32, p36 Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 14 / 29 The Coathanger asterism Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 15 / 29 M71 Globular cluster, also called the Angelfish cluster and the Arrowhead cluster, NGC 6838 Discovered in 1745 by Jean-Philippe Loys de Ch´eseaux Distance about 13,000 ly, apparent diameter 7 arcmin, age 10 billion years, integrated magnitude about 8 (visual) Peculiar globular: small, loosely-packed globular, containing only a few 10,000 stars, relatively young GC, relatively metal-rich GC, no RR Lyrae variable stars Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 16 / 29 M71 Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 17 / 29 Poodle cluster Open cluster, also called NGC 6830, Collinder 406, Melotte 204 Distance about 6,000 ly, age about 125 million years, angular diameter about 9 arcmin, about 150 members, brightest member about 10th magnitude Kharchenko et al, 2013, Astronomy and astrophysics, v558, p53 Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 18 / 29 Poodle cluster Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 19 / 29 NGC 6823 Also known as Collinder 405, and Sharpless 2-86 Open cluster with emission nebula A part of the active star-forming region called Vulpecula OB1 Distance about 6,000 ly, apparent diameter about 40 arcmin, The central cluster of stars is only a couple of ly across, with an age of only about 2 million years; remarkable for its pillars of dense gas, and Bok globules Integrated magnitude of about 7, about 100 stars, brightest one shines with 9th magnitude Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 20 / 29 NGC 6823 Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 21 / 29 Dumbbell nebula Planetary nebula Also known as Messier 27, Apple Core nebula, Diabolo nebula First PN to be discovered, discovered by Charles Messier 1764 Integrated magnitude of about 7, diameter 8 arcmin, distance 1,200 ly, physical extent about 1 ly, estimated age about 10,000 years Classic bipolar shape; about 4/5 of all PNs are non-spherical; cause of non-sphericity is unknown, but it is thought that central stars with companions may have non-spherical shaped PNs Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 22 / 29 Dumbbell nebula Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 23 / 29 The Black Widow pulsar Is a neutron star, the burned out core of a massive star that exploded as a supernova Mass between 1 and 2 solar masses, size of a few km Spins once every 1.6 milliseconds Is eclipsed every 9 hours, for about 20 minutes, by a brown dwarf companion Is thought that the companion is being destroyed by its close proximity to the neutron star: strong tides, Roche lobe overfill, and evaporation of the brown dwarf in the pulsar's wind of light and particles Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 24 / 29 Black Widow pulsar Shocked hydrogen gas (green) and X-rays (red) of the pulsar moving rapidly through the Milky Way http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/b1957/b1957 comp.jpg Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 25 / 29 Black Widow pulsar Artist's impression of the pulsar moving through space http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/b1957/b1957 ill1.jpg Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 26 / 29 Black Widow pulsar Artist's impression of the evaporation of its brown dwarf companion http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/b1957/b1957 ill2.jpg Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 27 / 29 Final words And now, with the hope that my work, even with its imperfections, may serve to foster a more intelligent interest in the nomenclature and \archaeology of practical astronomy", I submit it to all lovers of the stars. Richard Hinckley Allen (1899) Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 28 / 29 List of sources Aladin (aladin.u-strasbg.fr/aladin.gml) ADS - Astrophysics data system (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/) Richard Hinckley Allen, Star lore - their names and meanings (1899; reprinted by Dover 1963) Constellation Guide (constellation-guide.com) Deep Sky Forum (deepskyforum.com) Ian Ridpath's Star Tales (ianridpath.com) Linda Hall Library (http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/astro atlas/id/37) Simbad database (simbad.harvard.edu) Stellarium desktop planetarium software (stellarium.org) Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org) Michael L Allen Sagitta and Vulpecula PDLSP '19 29 / 29.
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