APOD: Quadrantids over the Great Wall (2020 Jan 03)

[APOD Robot]

Quadrantids over the Great Wall

Explanation: Named for a forgotten constellation, the Quadrantid Meteor Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere skygazers The shower's radiant on the sky lies within the old, astronomically obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis. That location is not far from the Big Dipper, at the boundaries of the modern constellations Bootes and Draco. With the radiant out of the frame at the upper right, Quadrantid meteors streak through this night skyscape composed of digital frames recorded in the hours around the shower's peak on January 4, 2013. The last quarter moon illuminates rugged terrain and a section of the Great Wall in Hebei Province, China. A likely source of the dust stream that produces Quadrantid meteors was identified in 2003 as an asteroid. As usual, in 2020 the shower is expected to peak briefly on the night of January 3/4. Meteor fans in North America can anticpate a good show to celebrate the new year in moonless skies before tomorrow's dawn.

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[Ann]

Beautiful picture! The Great Wall really looks, well, great among the impressive mountains.

Me being me, I'm more interested in the sky. And I'm more interested in the stars than in the Quarantids. I love the little Pleiades "hanging down" from the sky like tiny little compact Dipper.

Apart from the Pleiades, I found myself staring at the bright "star" close to the center of the image. "Wow, Aldebaran looks bright", was my first thought. But of course it isn't Aldebaran but a planet. Which one? Does anyone know? Colorwise, I might guess Saturn, although I can't remember Saturn visiting Taurus any time during the last, say, ten years. So Mars? Looks too non-red to be Mars. Jupiter? I don't remember Jupiter in Taurus, and shouldn't Jupiter be brighter? Venus? Really?

Orion looks great in the APOD too, although a little squashed. You can tell at a glance that this picture was not taken recently, because Betelgeuse is bright.

Great image!

Ann

[heehaw]

Wow! Thanks for the link to the Wikipedia page on abandoned constellations! Hugely informative! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constellations

[Ann]

Wow! Thanks for the link to the Wikipedia page on abandoned constellations! Hugely informative! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constellations

Click to view full size image

Star Cat. Painting by Nick Gustafson.

Agreed. I miss Felis the Cat the most.

We need a cat in the sky and not just a lynx!

Ann

[orin stepanek]

looking at the landscape; makes one wonder if a wall was really necessary? People must have really been scared to go to such extremes!

[neufer]

---

looking at the landscape; makes one wonder if a wall was really necessary?
People must have really been scared to go to such extremes!

If you were Boötes and thought there be dragons
to the north you might have a Quantum Mechanic
erect a wall as well.

https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2020/01 ... -the-year/

[orin stepanek]

---

looking at the landscape; makes one wonder if a wall was really necessary?
People must have really been scared to go to such extremes!

If you were Boötes and thought there be dragons
to the north you might have a Quantum Mechanic
erect a wall as well.

https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2020/01 ... -the-year/

Maybe; but the landscape there looks so formidable that i wouldn't want to traverse there; The wall does make it a little tougher though!

[Sacamato]

Ann, I had the same question! And the same "Wow, Aldebaran looks bright!" initial reaction

I looked it up on my handy stargazing app. I wasn't aware I could do this until I tried it, but Sky Map allows you to put in any date and view the sky on that date. If I put in Jan 4, 2013 (the date according to the description), and scan around for Taurus, Jupiter is right there!