APOD: Bright Jupiter in Taurus (2012 Nov 27)

[APOD Robot]

Bright Jupiter in Taurus

Explanation: That bright star you've recently noticed rising just after sunset isn't a star at all. It's Jupiter, the solar system's ruling gas giant. Bright Jupiter is nearing its December 3rd opposition when it will stand in Taurus, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. Clearly outshining yellowish Aldebaran, alpha star of Taurus, Jupiter is centered in this skyview from November 14th, also featuring the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters, familiar celestial sights as the northern hemisphere winter approaches. Sliding your cursor over the image will label the scene and identify two other solar system worlds approaching their opposition in December. Small and faint, asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres are about 10 degrees from Jupiter, near the left edge of the frame. Of course, you can imagine NASA's Dawn spacecraft in this field of view. Having left Vesta in September, Dawn's ion engine is now steadily driving it to match orbits with Ceres, scheduled to arrive there in February 2015.

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[Ann]

This is a great APOD!

I really appreciate the labeled image. It's fun to spot NGC 2175, the Monkey head Nebula, for example. That one's got a hot blue O-star in the middle. So does the Lambda Orionis nebula, which has, of course, Lambda Orionis in the center! Lambda is poking its head up at about seven o'clock in today's APOD. I also thought M35 looked very nice here. (The small star cluster you can see if you follow the link is NGC 2158 - I think I can spot it, but faintly, in today's APOD.)

But what a cool APOD! It's a lot of fun to see Ceres and Vesta so clearly labeled!

Ann

[Boomer12k]

Very interesting APOD with lots of points of interest.

I notice around Orion a big circular area of red, I assume to be fields of hydrogen. And then as you look up the picture, you see other areas of pinkish red. And darker areas that appear to be dusty areas.

Thanks for the Labels.

:---[===] *

[Brem3]

What do the arrows at Vesta and Ceres indicate? In my mental model of the solar system they should be moving to the left. Are they doing an epicycle?

[neufer]

What do the arrows at Vesta and Ceres indicate?
In my mental model of the solar system they should be moving to the left.
Are they doing an epicycle?

They are in retrograde as the faster Earth passes them by:
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits/fulltraj.jpg

Note that Dawn is approximately at the 11 o'clock position on the small circle surrounding Vesta.
http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspac ... 1&showac=1

[Remo]

First thing I did was to see if I could pick out Jupiter's Galilean moons. They should be brighter than most of the stars and certainly Vesta and Ceres. A little disappointed. I assume that they got caught up in the oversaturation of Jupiter. Other than my personal frustration, a great picture.

[Anthony Barreiro]

Does anyone know the date this picture was taken? The picture linked to in the caption was taken in September, when Jupiter was just starting his westward retrograde. I've been trying to follow Ceres and Vesta from the backyard, and I would guess this picture was taken around November 10. It is fun to watch these two bright asteroids in binoculars or a small telescope, moving perceptibly against the background stars from one night to the next (or one week to the next when we get intervening clouds and rain!)

By the way, this is a lovely picture, and I appreciate the mouse-over diagram and captions. Thanks.

[bystander]

Does anyone know the date this picture was taken?

exif data says 2012 Nov 14

[Chris Peterson]

Does anyone know the date this picture was taken? The picture linked to in the caption was taken in September, when Jupiter was just starting his westward retrograde. I've been trying to follow Ceres and Vesta from the backyard, and I would guess this picture was taken around November 10.

The caption gives the date as November 14, which appears to be correct given the positions of Jupiter, Ceres, and Vesta.

[ta152h0]

Nov 14, my mothers birthday (RIP ). I am printing this on photo paper and give it to a 9 year old girl, a future scientist. Who now has quite a collection of stellar images in her personal quest to get one answer " what is a black hole ? ". and find out you need many answers before arriving at that destination.

[starsurfer]

Great image but its a shame that the labeled version doesn't identify Sh2-264, the large red emission nebula around Lambda Orionis.

[ta152h0]

you just did and I think that is part of the APOD purpose.

[Anthony Barreiro]

Does anyone know the date this picture was taken?

exif data says 2012 Nov 14

The caption gives the date as November 14, which appears to be correct given the positions of Jupiter, Ceres, and Vesta.

Thanks. I don't know how I missed that the first time. I guess I'm still experiencing some residual post-Thanksgiving sluggishness.

[Ann]

Very interesting APOD with lots of points of interest.

I notice around Orion a big circular area of red, I assume to be fields of hydrogen. And then as you look up the picture, you see other areas of pinkish red. And darker areas that appear to be dusty areas.

Thanks for the Labels.

:---[===] *

The big red circular area is, as starsurfer pointed out, Sh2-264. Personally I just call it the Lambda Orionis nebula, since it is hot O8 star Lambda Orionis that causes this nebula by ionizing nearby hydrogen. Except that "nearby" isn't the proper term here - professor Emeritus Jim Kaler has said that the Lambda Orionis nebula is 150 light-years across!

Here is a picture of constellation Orion, which shows the Lambda Orionis nebula well. It is the large circular red patch at top.

Ann

[starsurfer]

Very interesting APOD with lots of points of interest.

I notice around Orion a big circular area of red, I assume to be fields of hydrogen. And then as you look up the picture, you see other areas of pinkish red. And darker areas that appear to be dusty areas.

Thanks for the Labels.

:---[===] *

The big red circular area is, as starsurfer pointed out, Sh2-264. Personally I just call it the Lambda Orionis nebula, since it is hot O8 star Lambda Orionis that causes this nebula by ionizing nearby hydrogen. Except that "nearby" isn't the proper term here - professor Emeritus Jim Kaler has said that the Lambda Orionis nebula is 150 light-years across!

Here is a picture of constellation Orion, which shows the Lambda Orionis nebula well. It is the large circular red patch at top.

Ann

I would love to see a high resolution mosaic of Sh2-264 by an amateur astrophotographer, it would be seriously epic!!

[Chris Peterson]

I would love to see a high resolution mosaic of Sh2-264 by an amateur astrophotographer, it would be seriously epic!!

Google it. It's a popular imaging target and there are dozens of images online.

[starsurfer]

I would love to see a high resolution mosaic of Sh2-264 by an amateur astrophotographer, it would be seriously epic!!

Google it. It's a popular imaging target and there are dozens of images online.

Yes there are lots of images but they're either low resolution single frame widefields or high resolution closeups of a small part. However, to date, I don't think there has been a more high resolution mosaic of the whole nebula. Also quite a few seem to block out the many reflection nebula with Ha combined with poor processing (reflection nebulae and dust can still be maintained with Ha). I want to see a 4-16 frame mosaic with a 4 or 6 inch telescope! It's a shame that weather is bad for many northern locations while the nights are longest!