Starship Asterisk*

Ann, ¡It is MY heaven!, I live in the north of Argentina (-27º27 lat)

Thank you, Si Ji Tario and Knight of Clear Skies, for your informative posts! :D

I was about to say something about this APOD, but I didn't get around to it. But I like it quite a lot.

It's fascinating that the two brightest-looking stars in the sky, Sirius and Canopus, are located so relatively close to one another - but I, in Sweden, can never see Canopus!

Canopus, an F-type star, looks interestingly blue. Yes, and it [b][i]is[/i][/b] interestingly blue. Its B-V index is 0.16, which is bluer than well-known A-type star Altair of the Summer Triangle, not seen in this APOD. At least I can't find it. But I'm not sure of the faint blue and yellow stars seen below the tiny Earth in teh APOD.

Reddish Gum Nebula looks glorious next to Canopus. Can you see two small but distinctive-looking blue stars inside the Gum Nebula? They are Zeta Puppis (the topmost one) and Gamma Velorum (the bottom one). Both Zeta Puppis and Gamma Velorum are magnificent O-type stars, but [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_Velorum]Gamma Velorum[/url] is a multiple star that also contains the nearest Wolf-Rayet star in the sky.

Ann

[quote="Sa Ji Tario" post_id=311380 time=1614972151]
Uncle Jeff is Achernar, Alpha Eri
[/quote]

I believe Archenar is the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achernar#Properties]least spherical star known[/url], due to its rapid rotation.

[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Achernar.svg/255px-Achernar.svg.png[/img]

Uncle Jeff is Achernar, Alpha Eri

What's the bright blue star toward the lower right (beyond the LMC)? The projection has me too disoriented to puzzle it out. All I know is that it's not Sirius, Canopus or any star in Orion, because those are labeled elsewhere.

PS: I really like pics that display labels when I hover with my cursor. I try to remember to hover on each day's picture so I might learn more, so encourage your label makers to enhance as many pics as they can where the info would be instructive :)

Thanks!

The image with the rover was cute1 8-) Most times I'm not into this type of photo! I/d copy the rover photo; cept my computer is need of resetting! :spam:

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210305.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_210305.jpg[/img] [size=150]A Little Like Mars[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] [url=https://www.nasa.gov/perseverance]The surface[/url] of this planet looks a little [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150822.html]like Mars[/url]. It's really planet Earth [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131024.html]though[/url]. In a digitally stitched little planet projection, the 360 degree mosaic was captured near San Pedro in the Chilean [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190914.html]Atacama[/url] desert. Telescopes in domes on the horizon are taking advantage of the region's famously dark, clear nights. Taken in early December, a magnificent [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210122.html]Milky Way[/url] arcs above the horizon for almost 180 degrees around the little planet with Orion prominent in the southern sky. A familiar constellation [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100115.html]upside down[/url] for northern hemisphere skygazers, Orion shares that southern December night almost opposite the Large and Small Magellanic clouds. But the Red Planet itself is the brightest yellowish celestial beacon in [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2103/Barsa-LikealittleMars1024-annotated.jpg]this little planet sky[/url].


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