Abstract
Carina, Crux, Musca, Centaurus, Circinus, Octans, Volans, Chamaeleon, Telescopium.
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- 1.
An understatement!
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Canopus is the 2nd brightest star in the sky and is a glorious sight. However as it does not lie in any part of the Milky Way we do not discuss it further.
- 3.
A good book on stellar evolution that is geared towards the amateur astronomer is Astrophysics Is Easy, by the present author.
- 4.
The most recent research suggests that the star is in fact not a single object but probably a double star system, with the primary a hypergiant and classified as a luminous blue variable (LBV), an extremely rare type of star.
- 5.
Incidentally, this was the “first light image” for the Wide Field and Planetary Camera for the HST, taken in May 1990.
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This cluster has astronomers perplexed, as it contains three generations of stars, whereas most globular clusters have only one. One novel explanation is that NGC 2808 is in fact the remnant of a dwarf galaxy that had collided with the Milky Way.
- 7.
Once upon a time, the constellation was visible from Britain, but this was around the 4000 bce; since then the precession of the equinoxes has lowered it below most European horizons.
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Recent work has suggested that the separation of the bright pair is very slowly decreasing.
- 9.
Be careful when observing during the day. Watch out for that big bright yellow thing we astronomers call the Sun! It is amazing how many amateur astronomers fail to take adequate and sensible precautions while observing during the day. NEVER POINT ANY OPTICAL EQUIPMENT AT THE SUN, AND NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT PROPER AND SAFE SOLAR PROTECTION.
- 10.
The system would be better known if it were in the northern hemisphere, as it would most probably have been observed more frequently. As it is, it poses several problems. There are issues with its mass determination that leads to errors in its age. Recent research suggests that β Mus A is a “runaway star” that may have been ejected from some prior binary system in the Lower Centaurus-Crux association.
- 11.
Cordoba Observatory.
- 12.
As just about everyone knows by now, an exoplanet was discovered around Proxima. The planet, Proxima Centauri b, is slightly larger than Earth and lying in the habitable zone. However, it may be that the planet is tidally locked to the star, resulting in extreme temperatures that would be somewhat difficult for life to overcome.
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An object of a significant amount of research, the cluster is now believed to be the remaining core of a small galaxy that merged with the Milky Way a long time ago. It has a mass about 10 times more than the typical globular cluster, and of all the globular clusters in the Local Group, only Mayall II (G1) in the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31) is more massive and luminous. In addition, in 2009, astronomers announced that Kapteyn’s Star, the 25th nearest star system at only 13 light years away, may have originated from Omega Centauri and was flung out during the merger with the Milky Way.
- 14.
This value is the mean apparent magnitude.
- 15.
It is thought to be a member of the Beat Pictoris moving group, a group of young stars moving through space relatively close to Earth.
- 16.
Named after the prototype of its class Alpha (α) Canum Veniticorum, a rotating star.
- 17.
Named after the prototype of its class, Gamma (γ) Cassiopeiae, which is a “nova-like” eruptive variable star.
- 18.
Just to add further confusion. the Local Group is located in the Local Sheet, which is a nearby region of the universe in which the Milky Way, the Local Group and other galaxies have the same peculiar velocity through space. This Local Sheet is believed to silhouette a concentration of dark matter in a filament.
- 19.
In case I get accused of being biased towards the northern sky, let me set the record straight, by an example. Who has ever really fully identified and observed in detail Camelopardalis? Not me, that’s for sure!
- 20.
The dark clouds located within the Chamaeleon I Association are one of the closest. most active star forming regions, with about 200-300 stars. Inside such clouds are formed T Tauri stars; a class of variable star. They are pre-main sequence objects in the process of contracting to form fully-fledged main-sequence stars.
- 21.
It is in fact a type called an Osterhoff Type 1 cluster. These are metail-rich clusters.
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Inglis, M. (2018). The Milky Way: March – April. In: Astronomy of the Milky Way. The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72950-3_3
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