APOD: Andromeda on the Rocks (2013 Sep 27)

[bactame]

Neufer wondered about seeing the supernova SN2011fe...which he cites as a magnitude 10. Well yes i did see it and according to a report by the AAVSO

[bactame]

Neufer wrote "you saw a 10th magnitude star" referring to my post earlier. Yes, i saw SN2011fe whose mag was between 9 & 10 on Sept 10, 2011, indeed according to a AAVSO special report many visual observations confirmed seeing the event. By that time in Sept the SN was near max and i had been out looking for it on several occasions before that date and seen nothing. I was in Muskegon, MI on the lake at Pere Marquette Park at the Coast Guard station at 4:00 am and watched it for about an hour as i walked my dog. The AAVSO had a special report on which much interest existed. That report included a plot of magnitudes by date, I would show you that report but the editor doesn't accept pastes. I believe that report is linked on the Cosmic Mirror website where a special topic on the SN exists.

[alter-ego]

Neufer wrote "you saw a 10th magnitude star" referring to my post earlier. Yes, i saw SN2011fe whose mag was between 9 & 10 on Sept 10, 2011, indeed according to a AAVSO special report many visual observations confirmed seeing the event. By that time in Sept the SN was near max and i had been out looking for it on several occasions before that date and seen nothing. I was in Muskegon, MI on the lake at Pere Marquette Park at the Coast Guard station at 4:00 am and watched it for about an hour as i walked my dog. The AAVSO had a special report on which much interest existed. That report included a plot of magnitudes by date, I would show you that report but the editor doesn't accept pastes. I believe that report is linked on the Cosmic Mirror website where a special topic on the SN exists.

I'm curious about your observation. For the date and times you mentioned from Muskegon, M101 was at lower culmination (due north, about 8° altitude), what optical aid were you using?

[Ann]

Note that in this image M33 is also visible near the horizon.

Indeed, it is! This picture brings out the "brightness difference" between these two galaxies. Most of M31 is about as bright as M33 is "all over", but M31 has a bright bulge.

Ann

[alter-ego]

Note that in this image M33 is also visible near the horizon.

Indeed, it is! This picture brings out the "brightness difference" between these two galaxies. Most of M31 is about as bright as M33 is "all over", but M31 has a bright bulge.

Ann

I have seen M33 with my naked eye, and the sky is astonishing. As indicated by the picture, you can imagine the naked-eye view of M31.

[Ann]

Great Photo! Thanks for not catching a whale jumping toward Andromeda to give APOD a third day running title of : Andromeda versus Cetus

I like the title (and the photo) just as it is. Along with the comments and explanations which adds that little extra “twist” to the plot.

Are you sure, Ron? Andromeda's "neighbouring constellations" are Triangulum (obviously, since that is where M33 can be seen), faint Pisces, Pegasus (whose used-to-be Alpha Star, now Andromeda's Alpha star, Alpheratz, can be seen at about one o'clock), Lacerta (whose stars can't be seen here), Cassiopeia (Omicron and Pi are visible here?), and Perseus, several of whos stars can be seen here: Alpha, Gamma, Eta, Tau and Iota, as well as the Double Cluster and Alpha Persei Moving Group. But Cetus is out of the picture. (Perseus probably already defeated him, although his deadly weapon, Medusa's head Algol, appears to be below the horizon.)

But thanks for making me check what the stars in the picture are and where Cetus is in relation to Andromeda!

Ann

[Ann]

I have seen M33 with my naked eye, and the sky is astonishing. As indicated by the picture, you can imagine the naked-eye view of M31.

Fantastic. The sky must have been so brilliant with stars that there appeared to be as many (visible) stars in the sky as there are grains of sand on the bottom of the sea.

Ann

[bactame]

Alter-ego wrote
I'm curious about your observation. For the date and times you mentioned from Muskegon, M101 was at lower culmination (due north, about 8° altitude), what optical aid were you using?

On that date the handle of the Big Dipper was essentially parallel to the horizon, about 10 degrees above the horizon and flat because of the lake. Milwaukee is 90 miles away west and Greenbay is about 200 miles or more to the NNW. The position of M101 is approx at the peak of equilateral triangle, i say equilateral so distance to M101 can be visualized but the triangle is more scalene. In that location a couple faint stars can be seen depending on seeing conditions. My walks take a route about 4miles long which has an elevation perhaps to a hundred feet above the beach. The time of 4am does vary from 2:30 am to 4:00 am depending on when the dog climbs in bed and licks my face. My eyes are unequal in strength so i get some blurring of vision. I have drug store reading glasses of 250 diopter for reading but had no visual aids.

The image of the SN was rectangular perhaps 4X5 arc minutes, much smaller than the moon but uniformly colored and the color left no doubt in my mind that the object was not a star, ie not a point source of light. I could see the SN all along that path both on the beach and along the top of the dune, unless a tree obstructed. My background is as a physics and chemistry teacher but mostly as a physics teacher and astronomy highschool teacher in metropolitan Chicago. The blurring of vision may well have helped me see the nebula but in this case was an advantage because of the color field it produced.

At the time i went to the AAVSO using a Bing search term SN2011fe AAVSO and their plot covered the period out to Sep 03 plus a few days. APOD and the Cosmic Mirror also had articles on the subject.

[mtbdudex]

very beautiful APOD, taken with Canon 5D mkIII & a MINITRACK-LX July-20, congratulations Cristian Fattinnanzi.

[Nitpicker]

Your statement was definitely worded confusingly enough for me to think you meant global warming was as dangerous as education of women.

I agree that it was not written clearly, but that's the way I like my "wild speculation" rants. Sorry for the confusion.

[neufer]

α Andromedae, labeled *SIRRAH* bordering Pegasus.

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<<Alpha Andromedae (α Andromedae, abbreviated Alpha And or α And) is located 97 light-years from the Sun and is the brightest star in the constellation of Andromeda. Located immediately northeast of the constellation of Pegasus, it is the upper left star of the Great Square of Pegasus. The star bore the traditional names Alpheratz or Alpherat and *SIRRAH* deriving from the Arabic name, سرة الفرس surrat al-faras "the navel of the mare". (سرة alone is surrah). The word horse reflects the star's historical placement in Pegasus. Another term for this star used by medieval astronomers writing in Arabic was راس المراة المسلسلة rās al-mar'a al-musalsala "the head of the woman in chains", the chained woman here being Andromeda.The star system is referred to by the name "*SIRRAH*" on the 2017 Ayreon record entitled The Source. On this record an alien race abandons their home planet in search of a new home world orbiting "the star of *SIRRAH*."

Although it appears to the naked eye as a single star, with overall apparent visual magnitude +2.06, it is actually a binary system composed of two stars in close orbit. The chemical composition of the brighter of the two stars is unusual as it is a mercury-manganese star whose atmosphere contains abnormally high levels of mercury, manganese, and other elements, including gallium and xenon. It is the brightest mercury-manganese star known.>>

[neufer]

α Andromedae, labeled *SIRRAH* bordering Pegasus.

---

<<Alpha Andromedae (α Andromedae, abbreviated Alpha And or α And) is located 97 light-years from the Sun and is the brightest star in the constellation of Andromeda. Located immediately northeast of the constellation of Pegasus, it is the upper left star of the Great Square of Pegasus. The star bore the traditional names Alpheratz or Alpherat and *SIRRAH* deriving from the Arabic name, سرة الفرس surrat al-faras "the navel of the mare". (سرة alone is surrah). The word horse reflects the star's historical placement in Pegasus. Another term for this star used by medieval astronomers writing in Arabic was راس المراة المسلسلة rās al-mar'a al-musalsala "the head of the woman in chains", the chained woman here being Andromeda.The star system is referred to by the name "*SIRRAH*" on the 2017 Ayreon record entitled The Source. On this record an alien race abandons their home planet in search of a new home world orbiting "the star of *SIRRAH*."

Although it appears to the naked eye as a single star, with overall apparent visual magnitude +2.06, it is actually a binary system composed of two stars in close orbit. The chemical composition of the brighter of the two stars is unusual as it is a mercury-manganese star whose atmosphere contains abnormally high levels of mercury, manganese, and other elements, including gallium and xenon. It is the brightest mercury-manganese star known.>>

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

• King Lear : Act I, scene IV

Fool: [Singing]

• Fools had ne'er less wit in a year;
  For wise men are grown foppish,
  They know not how their wits to wear,
  Their manners are so apish.

KING LEAR: When were you wont to be so full of songs, *SIRRAH*?