Starship Asterisk*

Amazing... and the dust clouds around the Pleiades as well...

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[quote="APOD Robot" post_id=288695 time=1546837932 user_id=128559]
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190107.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_190107.jpg[/img] [size=150]Stars, Meteors, and a Comet in Taurus[/size][/url]
"This was an unusual night..."
[/quote]

In case anyone is curious (as I was) this was "the night of 14 to 15 December 2018" according to http://esplaobs.blogspot.com/2018/12/comet-46p-wirtanen-and-geminids-shower.html (which also has details about how the image was taken).

In addition to the stars, meteors, and comet, there is also a red emission nebula at the bottom left.

[quote=" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldebaran"]


[float=left][img3="Occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon. "]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Moon_occults_Aldebaran.png[/img3][/float]


<<On 11 March AD 509, a lunar occultation of Aldebaran was observed in Athens, Greece. English astronomer Edmund Halley studied the timing of this event, and in 1718 concluded that Aldebaran must have changed position since that time, moving several minutes of arc further to the north. This, as well as observations of the changing positions of stars Sirius and Arcturus, led to the discovery of proper motion. Based on present day observations, the position of Aldebaran has shifted 7′ in the last 2000 years; roughly a quarter the diameter of the full moon.>>[/quote]

No answers yet?

It's a nice picture. I like it. Thanks, Juan Carlos Casado!

Ann

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190107.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_190107.jpg[/img] [size=150]Stars, Meteors, and a Comet in Taurus[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] This was an unusual night to look in the direction of the Bull. The [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_(constellation)]constellation Taurus[/url] is always well known for hosting two bright star clusters -- [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150617.html]the Pleaides[/url], visible on the right, and the comparatively diffuse [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121224.html]Hyades[/url], visible on the left. This night last month, however, was atypically the peak of the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171222.html]Geminid meteor shower[/url], and so several meteors were caught shooting through the constellation with [url=https://www.khanacademy.org/math/basic-geo/basic-geo-angle/angles-between-lines/e/parallel_lines_1]parallel trails[/url]. More unusually still, [url=http://www.cometwatch.co.uk/comet-46p-wirtanen/]Comet Wirtanen[/url] was drifting through the constellation, here appearing near the image bottom surrounded by a greenish coma. The [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/in-depth/]comet[/url] was near its brightest as it [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181216.html]sped past[/url] the Earth. The orange star on the upper left is [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldebaran]Aldebaran[/url], considered to be the eye of the Bull. Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus and the 15th [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_brightest_stars]brightest star[/url] in the sky. The featured image is a combination of nearly 800 exposures taken from the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain]Spanish[/url] village [url=https://youtu.be/zIIR23JzfXE]Albanyà[/url].


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