h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Asterisms - A61463333
Author: Galaxy Babe - FP author - U128652

The artwork is all by Gnomon and I have the Eds' OK to use them all, enjoy!


GB

Looks like another interesting read, Galaxy Babe.

One quick remark: The Big Dipper is far more familiar to the Dutch as the 'Grote Beer' (Great Bear). 'Steelpannetje' is used too, yes, but much less frequently.

Best of with the entry!

I can't believe my eyes! I have just come home from a walk along the coast line, looking up at stars and wondering 'might that be?'

Son said - 'you need a Big Book of Stars, Mum'

Fantastic - this is just what I need

Thank you Otus, I've added that

Lanzababy, what you need is someone by your side pointing out all the patterns and star names. This is the next-best thing, and if someone learns something from my entries then I must be doing something right. Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed your walk

>>>It straddles the ecliptic, so you'd need a high stance to view the asterism known as 'the Circlet'

I don't understand this part. Maybe because I am a complete novice in reading about the stars, but please could you explain 'straddling the ecliptic' and by 'high stance' do you mean be on a very high hill or mountain?




I am currently in the 29° Latitude, and can only recognise Orion. The new moon appears like a flat dish at the moment here, and am I seeing Mars in the sky? I can certainly see something quite red.

What Time Zone are you in?

GMT - we are directly south of Britain

I've expanded that section.

I've looked at my Stellarium (I am fogged in and can't even see the Sun, never mind the new moon)

From the Sun going left is Jupiter (but that's not red) and then the crescent moon. I would rather not change my settings to your location, but if you can just tell me in what direction this red object is that you can see, eg how close is it to Orion? It's 11:15am here, so I can't see Orion.

I could see it last night, to the West of Orion. The moon was to the East.


Thanks for expanding that section for me

Mars is exceptionally prominent in the night sky at the moment. If you compare Betelgeuse on Orion's shoulder they should be the same hue. You can tell planets because they don't twinkle like stars do. The other exceptionally-red object within that area is Aldebaran, the 'eye of the Bull' in Taurus. It's always in the same direction though, Mars moves gradually each night, through the signs of the Zodiac

You're welcome, Lanzababy

...and I apologise for missing your anchors *offtopic* smileys, I am posting in Classic Goo and some smileys are still invisible. I refuse to switch to Brunel, even though I don't see my own I can still type it and know it's there

You there, lanza? I can see Mars now, due south - to the left of Orion.

Indeed! I don't think I ever noticed it is so red before. And you are quite right about it being the same colour as Betelgeuse.

Orion is sort of tilted here too, Thank you for your help in identifying what I was looking at!

You're welcome For your next lesson, tonight see if you can spot the Winter Triangle

I can see this Entry will be great fun - didn't have much time outside last night, but I'll try again tomorrow.

Lovely

here's a question

>>alpha Andromedae and delta Pegasi. It also bears the names Alpheratz and Schirra.<<

How did it come by the name Schirra? After Wally Schirra?

now off to finish reading

that should be Sirrah

Yep, Dibon Smith agrees with you: http://www.dibonsmith.com/peg_d.htm

Anybody else spotted any asterisms?

>>Anybody else spotted any asterisms? <<

Could be…

There was a rather nice story by Stephen J O’Meara a couple of months ago in one of the astronomy magazines, concerning the ‘Northern Cross’.

The Northern Cross is in fact Cygnus stood on its head with Albireo at the lowest point. (The foot of the cross). At around Christmas time it is taking a dive towards the NW horizon and appears as a cross standing up from the horizon. In his star atlas of 1627, Julius Schiller depicted it as the Cross of Calvary. Now the cross is generally associated with Christ’s death. Ironically it is the more so because the Sun and stars set in the west and that has connotations with death.

But the Latin cross also stands for rebirth and has been associated with the Egyptian ankh, and stars rising in the east is symbolic of birth or new life. Oddly at the same time in the east, Messier M44 is just rising, which you will recall is the beehive cluster, or Praesepe, which is Latin for ‘manger’ or ‘crib‘. So, on Christmas day you have the cross in the west and the manger in the east. Life on the one hand, death on the other.

You can try it on your Stellarium. Set it to 8pm 25/12.

Deke