Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Les etoiles, les etoiles




"Map 4 shows the constellations of northern spring, southern autumn, for 8:30 PM for the month at the top between declinations 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south and from right ascension 06h 30m to 13h 30m. For each hour thereafter, the sky shifts one hour to the right. The ecliptic crosses the celestial equator (zero degrees declination) at the Autumnal Equinox in Virgo. The Milky Way, centered on the Galactic Equator, the mid-line of the Galaxy, runs from right center to lower left. The "Praesepe" in Cancer is the Beehive Cluster. (The constellation outlines are not necessarily the same as those on the photographs in the Stars pages.)"

Maps from Stars, Scientific American Library, J. B. Kaler, Freeman, NY, 1992, copyright © James B. Kaler. All rights reserved. These contents are the property of the author and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the author's consent except in fair use for educational purposes. Thanks to Stan Wyatt for the initial inception.


Honestly, I can hardly decipher the meaning of this map and its explanation from http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/cm5.html, but I absolutely love looking at the stars! That's it! Added to my summer bucket list is learning to read star maps and finding constellations in the night sky.

For new information every day about the night sky visit StarDate online: http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/cm5.html.

Today's "weekly tip" from StarDate:

"July 14, 2010
Look for the planet Venus to the upper right of the crescent Moon this evening. Venus is the brilliant "evening star." The true star Regulus is to the lower right of Venus, completing a beautiful triangle in the western evening sky."

Happy star gazing!


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