by APOD Robot » Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:06 am
Winter Hexagon Over Stagecoach Colorado
Explanation: If you can find Orion, you might be able to find the Winter Hexagon. The Winter Hexagon involves some of the
brightest stars visible, together forming a large and easily found
pattern in the
winter sky of
Earth's
northern hemisphere. The stars involved can usually be identified even in the
bright night skies of a
big city, although here they appear over darker
Stagecoach,
Colorado, USA.. The six stars that compose the
Winter Hexagon are
Aldebaren,
Capella,
Castor (and
Pollux),
Procyon,
Rigel, and
Sirius. Here, the band of our Milky Way Galaxy runs through the center of the
Winter Hexagon, while the
Pleiades open
star cluster is visible just above. The
Winter Hexagon asterism engulfs several
constellations including much of the
iconic steppingstone
Orion.
[/b]
[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110103.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_110103.jpg[/img] [size=150]Winter Hexagon Over Stagecoach Colorado[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] If you can find Orion, you might be able to find the Winter Hexagon. The Winter Hexagon involves some of the [url=http://www.seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/]brightest stars[/url] visible, together forming a large and easily found [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexagon]pattern[/url] in the [url=http://my.execpc.com/60/B3/culp/astronomy/Winter/winter.html]winter sky[/url] of [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100713.html]Earth[/url]'s [url=http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html]northern hemisphere[/url]. The stars involved can usually be identified even in the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010827.html]bright night skies[/url] of a [url=http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0208/earthlights02_dmsp_big.jpg]big city[/url], although here they appear over darker [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach]Stagecoach[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado]Colorado[/url], USA.. The six stars that compose the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsnsTmlVS28]Winter Hexagon[/url] are [url=http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/aldebaran.html]Aldebaren[/url], [url=http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/hr/1708.html]Capella[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_(star)]Castor[/url] (and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollux_(star)]Pollux[/url]), [url=http://www.solstation.com/stars/procyon2.htm]Procyon[/url], [url=http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/blue-white-rigel-is-orions-brightest-star]Rigel[/url], and [url=http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/sirius.html]Sirius[/url]. Here, the band of our Milky Way Galaxy runs through the center of the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Hexagon]Winter Hexagon[/url], while the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091014.html]Pleiades[/url] open [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html]star cluster[/url] is visible just above. The [url=http://newton.dep.anl.gov/newton/askasci/1993/astron/AST015.HTM]Winter Hexagon[/url] [url=http://www.seds.org/Maps/Const/asterism.html]asterism[/url] engulfs several [url=http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html]constellations[/url] including much of the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101117.html]iconic[/url] steppingstone [url=http://www.seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/orion.html]Orion[/url].
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