Starship Asterisk*

[float=left][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBfUBtdo8yo[/youtube][/float].
[quote=Boomer12k post_id=291712 time=1556067521 user_id=120851]
.
In 50,000 years.... "The Big SCOOPER"....kind of a "shovel thing"...[/quote]
Long before the Big Dipper distorts to unrecognizability
[b][u]other brighter/closer stars[/u][/b] have entered the picture.

In 50,000 years.... "The Big SCOOPER"....kind of a "shovel thing"...

:---[===] *

Awesome image... so much going on...

:---[===] *

[quote="orin stepanek" post_id=291705 time=1556019849 user_id=100812]
the constellations will probably all have to be renamed!
[/quote]

The Constellation Formerly Known As Ursa Major!

B^)

P.S. thanks Ann for your "colourful" commentary!

Nothing ever lasts Ann! :roll: The constellations will probably all have to be renamed! :lol2:

Nice! :D I really like the saturated star colors.

Note white Polaris, the North Star, at left. It is easily found if you follow the "pointer stars" of the Big Dipper, which are the yellow and blue stars at top left left in this image. The pointers point directly at Polaris. It seems somehow "wrong" that the radiant of the Quarantids is not near Polaris, but there you have it!

While we are at the left side of the APOD, note green comet Wirtanen at top left!

Bright orange Arcturus is at right. The "handle" of the Big Dipper points right at Arcturus. How practical that the Big Dipper shows us both Polaris and Arcturus! :D

Oh, and at lower right, you can find the tiara of Corona Borealis. How pretty it is!


[float=right][img2]http://cseligman.com/text/sky/bigdipperchange.jpg[/img2][/float]As for the Big Dipper itself, its five middle stars (or six, since Mizar and Alcor should count as two) belong to the same "stellar association". These five stars all belong to spectral class A, and they move in more or less the same direction at the same speed through space. Yellow Dubhe, one of the pointers, and blue Alkaid, the end star of the handle, are different. Dubhe and Alkaid are farther away than the other bright stars of the Big Dipper, and they move in different directions than the others.

I'm not sure the link will keep working, so you may try [url=https://i.redd.it/14y3jr9bpim01.jpg]this one[/url] instead.

And now that I'm giving you links, here is another cool one, showing [url=https://c.tadst.com/gfx/750x500/tell-time-with-stars.png?1]how you can tell the time[/url] with the Big Dipper and Polaris!

Ann

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190423.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_190423.jpg[/img] [size=150]Meteors, Comet, and Big Dipper over La Palma[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] Meteor showers are caused by streams of solid particles, dust size and larger, moving as a group through space. In most cases, the orbits of these [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180808.html]meteor streams[/url] can be identified with [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011117.html]dust[/url] expelled from a comet. When the Earth passes through a stream, the particles leave brilliant trails through the night sky as they disintegrate in [url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/463940main_atmosphere-layers2_full.jpg]Earth's atmosphere[/url]. The meteor paths are all [url=https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/parallel.html]parallel[/url] to each other, but, [url=http://en.es-static.us/upl/2010/12/railroad-tracks-converge-shutterstock-e1367591337388.jpg]like train tracks[/url], the effect of perspective causes them to appear to originate from a [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170427.html]radiant point[/url] in the distance. The featured image composite was taken during January's [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrantids]Quadrantid meteor shower[/url] from [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub9622tvuUM]La Palma[/url], one of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain]Spain[/url]'s [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands]Canary Islands[/url], off the northwest coast of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa]Africa[/url]. [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190109.html]The Quadrantids[/url] radiant is visible just below the handle of the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171121.html]Big Dipper[/url]. A [url=http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/happy-funny-girl-with-magnifying-glass-picture-id467073331?s=170667a&w=1007]careful eye[/url] will also discern the faint [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170212.html]green coma[/url] of [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181216.html]Comet Wirtanen[/url]. Tonight is the peak of the modest [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrids]Lyrid meteor shower[/url], with several meteors per hour visible from dark locations with clear skies.


[table][tr][td=left][url=http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190422][b]<< Previous APOD[/b][/url][/td] [td=center][url=http://asterisk.apod.com/view_retro.php?date=0423][b]This Day in APOD[/b][/url][/td] [td=right][url=http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190424][b]Next APOD >>[/b][/url][/td][/tr][/table]