by Ann » Sat Oct 12, 2024 6:24 am
I'll leave it to the rest of you to discuss the aurora itself. For myself, I was so proud of being able to identify important stars here. And the clincher was...
kappa Draconis!! (Or kappa Draco, for simplicity.)
κ Draconis, or kappa Draco. Credit: informationaboutstars.com
Kappa Draconis is one of two blue B-type stars in the entire, large and winding constellation of Draco, the other being zeta Draconis. But kappa Draco is so distinctive for sitting in the middle of a nice little asterism. Look Ma, there she is!!!
And as you can see, that's the Big Dipper skimming the horizon. And to the upper left of kappa Draco is beta Ursa Minor, Kochab.
That line of three stars on the green constellation line some distance to the right of Kochab is kappa Draco and friends!
Of course you know that Ursa Minor is the constellation of Polaris. So where is Polaris in the APOD? Oh, it's off the frame here, higher up in the sky.
And now I'll leave it to the rest of you to discuss the aurora itself!
Ann
P.S. I you are wondering, I'm writing kappa, beta and zeta with lowercase letters, because
Simbad Astronomical Database insists I should spell them this way.
I'll leave it to the rest of you to discuss the aurora itself. For myself, I was so proud of being able to identify important stars here. And the clincher was... [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Draconis]kappa Draconis[/url]!! (Or kappa Draco, for simplicity.)
[float=left][attachment=1]κ Draconis informationaboutstars com.png[/attachment][c][size=85][color=#0040FF]κ Draconis, or kappa Draco. Credit: informationaboutstars.com[/color][/size][/c][/float]
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Kappa Draconis is one of two blue B-type stars in the entire, large and winding constellation of Draco, the other being zeta Draconis. But kappa Draco is so distinctive for sitting in the middle of a nice little asterism. Look Ma, there she is!!!
[float=left][img3="Northern Lights, West Virginia. Image Credit & Copyright: Jonathan Eggleston"]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2410/241010_eggleston_1024.jpg[/img3][/float][float=right][attachment=0]APOD 12 October 2024 detail annotated.png[/attachment][/float]
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And as you can see, that's the Big Dipper skimming the horizon. And to the upper left of kappa Draco is beta Ursa Minor, Kochab.
[img3="Constellation Ursa Minor. Credit: IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg) "]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Ursa_Minor_IAU.svg/800px-Ursa_Minor_IAU.svg.png[/img3]
That line of three stars on the green constellation line some distance to the right of Kochab is kappa Draco and friends! :D
Of course you know that Ursa Minor is the constellation of Polaris. So where is Polaris in the APOD? Oh, it's off the frame here, higher up in the sky.
And now I'll leave it to the rest of you to discuss the aurora itself! :D
Ann
P.S. I you are wondering, I'm writing kappa, beta and zeta with lowercase letters, because [url=https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=Kappa+Draco&submit=SIMBAD+search]Simbad Astronomical Database[/url] insists I should spell them this way.