The Naming of Parts

The other day I posted a simulated sky view of the southern sky from our house in New England. I hope that some readers went outside and tried to find the scene and drink in its beauty. (NOTE: you don’t have to live at my latitude to see this scene — although if you live at or south of the equator, the constellations may appear oriented differently.)  For those of you who did and who want to know what those star patterns are, here’s a labeled chart for your enjoyment. The blue labels are constellation names while the yellowish-white ones are stars and one nebula.

For what it’s worth, this is probably my favorite part of the northern-hemisphere sky. The wintertime stars just seem to glitter more in the cold wintry air that we have here in our parts. I’ve also seen Orion and his friends from the southern hemisphere, and they seem equally beautiful and glittery from there, too, especially in the cold-weather southern climates.

A few hints as to what you can find within Orion’s boundaries if you look hard (i.e. binoculars or a small telescope):  first, look around for the three belt stars — labeled Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. See where it says Trapezium and Orion Nebula? If you look there through binoculars you should be able to make a small, grayish-green cloud. That’s the Orion Nebula; the Trapezium is a set of four bright, hot young stars set in the center of the nebula. When you look at this region of space you are seeing light that has traveled about 1,500 years to reach your eyes. And, as you watch, young stars are being born in that nebula.

At the other end of the star-life continuum, you can find a star that’s going to go supernova–someday. It’s in Orion’s shoulder, labeled Betelgeuse. This red supergiant lies about 500-600 light-years away from us and has evolved very quickly. It will likely explode as a supernova in the next 1,000 years — if it hasn’t already (and remember, if it has done so any time in the last 1,500 years, we haven’t seen it yet since the light-signals haven’t reached us yet).  But, when humans do get to see Betelgeuse’s death throes, they’ll be so bright that they’ll rival the full moon’s brightness.

Finally, look below Orion to find the star labeled “Sirius.” That’s the brightest star in our night sky (and you know what the brightest star in our sky really is, don’t you?) and lies 8.3 light-years away.  That means that when you look at it, you’re seeing light that has traveled just over eight years go reach your eyes.  Pretty amazing.

Okay, that’s it for tonight’s holiday star party. In a few days I’ll post another star chart for you to check out!