Starship Asterisk*

Joules wrote:So are the red far and the blue close, vice versa, or some mixture of the two?

Joules wrote:
So are the red far and the blue close, vice versa, or some mixture of the two?

• The far ones are blue, the nearer ones are a mixture of the two:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocchi's_Cluster wrote:

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Code: Select all

Dist. (LY)  Spectral type    Name     Apparent
 .                                    magnitude
-----------------------------------------------
237.7         A0V          5 Vul 	    5.594
271.6         K0III        4 Vul 	    5.16
387           K3IVp        HD 182293 	7.111
480           A0V          HD 182761 	6.303
613           M0III        HD 182955 	5.87
...............................................
805           A1V          HD 182972 	6.629
1160          B5Vn         7 Vul 	    6.327
1340          B3II         HD 183261 	6.875
1380          B9.5V        HD 182422 	6.398

APOD Robot wrote: Explanation: Is this coat hanger a star cluster or an asterism?...

Chance star projections are known as asterisms

Joules wrote:So are the red far and the blue close, vice versa, or some mixture of the two?

Chris Peterson wrote:

APOD Robot wrote:
Explanation: Is this coat hanger a star cluster or an asterism?...

Chance star projections are known as asterisms

The Coat Hanger - and any other notable stellar grouping- can be both a cluster and an asterism. "Asterism" does not demand a chance grouping of unrelated stars. The Pleiades, for example, is widely recognized both as an asterism and an open cluster.

The question here is whether the Coat Hanger is an open cluster or not, not whether it's an asterism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism_%28astronomy%29#Non-asterisms wrote:
<<In the formal sense used here, asterisms are groups of stars that have not been categorized as something else. Objects which do not fall within the bounds of this definition include the Milky Way, nebulae, and open clusters. Open clusters are groups of stars that are physically related — gravitationally bound together and moving through the galaxy in the same direction and speed. As these groupings are not human constructs, but real phenomena, they do not count as asterisms. Among the best-known and closest are the Pleiades (M45) and the Hyades in Taurus and the Beehive (M44) in Cancer. (It may be noted that, with the addition of Aldebaran, which is in the same line of sight, the Hyades open cluster forms a V-shaped sectional asterism in Taurus).>>

neufer wrote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism_%28astronomy%29#Non-asterisms wrote:
<<In the formal sense used here, asterisms are groups of stars that have not been categorized as something else. Objects which do not fall within the bounds of this definition include the Milky Way, nebulae, and open clusters. Open clusters are groups of stars that are physically related — gravitationally bound together and moving through the galaxy in the same direction and speed. As these groupings are not human constructs, but real phenomena, they do not count as asterisms. Among the best-known and closest are the Pleiades (M45) and the Hyades in Taurus and the Beehive (M44) in Cancer. (It may be noted that, with the addition of Aldebaran, which is in the same line of sight, the Hyades open cluster forms a V-shaped sectional asterism in Taurus).>>

• the Coat Hanger
  Catheter Hogan

Ann wrote:Ah! The CoathanRger is one of my favorite asterisms. It often shows up very well in astrophotos and helps you figure out what part of the sky the the picture is showing you!

Nice picture! RGB and all!

Ann

Susie Q wrote:
“Thank goodness for all the things you are not, thank goodness you're not something someone forgot, and left all alone in some punkerish place, like a rusty tin coat hanger hanging in space.”

Thanks to Dr Seuss for this quote....it came to mind this morning as I viewed the Coat Hanger in Space!

Susie Q wrote:“Thank goodness for all the things you are not, thank goodness you're not something someone forgot, and left all alone in some punkerish place, like a rusty tin coat hanger hanging in space.”

Thanks to Dr Seuss for this quote....it came to mind this morning as I viewed the Coat Hanger in Space!

Hans Vonk wrote:"... this bright stellar grouping is wider than the full moon..." The span of the picture is therefore about one degree. It would be nice if an indication of the span could come with every image.

Ron-Astro Pharmacist wrote:Looking at the photographer's site it appears this image may have been taken from Ohio. From the northern hemisphere doesn't it appear like this?

Joe Stieber wrote:

Ron-Astro Pharmacist wrote:Looking at the photographer's site it appears this image may have been taken from Ohio. From the northern hemisphere doesn't it appear like this?

Indeed, with a direct view (binoculars) from mid-northern latitudes, the Coat Hanger does look more-or-less upside-down, as shown in Ron's diagram, because the hanger bar runs largely east-west and the hook extends southward. As presented, today's APOD is rotated 180 degrees compared to Ron's diagram, which is the nominal view when the Coat Hanger transits the meridian. As it rises towards, or descends from the meridian, it is tilted somewhat, but still generally upside-down looking.

Chris Peterson wrote:
That's simply wrong. The Pleiades and Hyades are certainly considered asterisms.

Ann wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote:
That's simply wrong. The Pleiades and Hyades are certainly considered asterisms.

I thought asterisms are visual groupings of stars that just appear to belong together, but are at quite different distances from the Earth.

DavidLeodis wrote:According to information with the APOD "APOD is also available in: Arabic, Bahasa Indonesian, Catalan, Chinese, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, Farsi, Galego, German, French, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Montenegrin, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Thai, or Turkish". So not yet in Klingon. :wink: :)