Greetings fellow stargazers!
Late last night I managed to get two good shots of a well-known group of three bright first magnitude stars that make up one of the more well-known sights in the southern sky in the Northern Hemisphere, and their constellations.
The Summer Triangle itself is not a constellation, but a large asterism, or group of stars, consisting of three bright stars: Vega, Deneb and Altair. Each of these stars in turn are part of three separate constellations: Cygnus, Aguila, and Lyra.
Since they were right overhead, I was unable to get any significant foreground images aside from a couple of power lines that are barely visible in the photos. All the same I was able to just barely capture all of the stars in the constellations, which I outlined in the second photo.
Here are some interesting facts about the three main stars in the summer triangle.
Altair is only 16.8 light-years away from Earth, making it one of our nearer stellar neighbors.
Vega, at only 25 light-years away and the 5th brightest star in the night sky -- the second-brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus.
Deneb is the 19th brightest star in the night sky and a part of another group of stars -- the Northern Cross. The little star, Albireo, appears at the head of the Cygnus the Swan, and serves as the base of the Northern Cross.
The summer triangle and three constellations are best seen in the night sky around June, and the Milky Way runs through the triangle, though it is best to be way out in the country away from town and city lights to get a good shot of that.
Well folks I hope y'all enjoyed my photos. Be sure to leave a comment below and have a wonderful Dixie evening, and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!
Late last night I managed to get two good shots of a well-known group of three bright first magnitude stars that make up one of the more well-known sights in the southern sky in the Northern Hemisphere, and their constellations.
The Summer Triangle itself is not a constellation, but a large asterism, or group of stars, consisting of three bright stars: Vega, Deneb and Altair. Each of these stars in turn are part of three separate constellations: Cygnus, Aguila, and Lyra.
Since they were right overhead, I was unable to get any significant foreground images aside from a couple of power lines that are barely visible in the photos. All the same I was able to just barely capture all of the stars in the constellations, which I outlined in the second photo.
Here are some interesting facts about the three main stars in the summer triangle.
Altair is only 16.8 light-years away from Earth, making it one of our nearer stellar neighbors.
Vega, at only 25 light-years away and the 5th brightest star in the night sky -- the second-brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus.
Deneb is the 19th brightest star in the night sky and a part of another group of stars -- the Northern Cross. The little star, Albireo, appears at the head of the Cygnus the Swan, and serves as the base of the Northern Cross.
The summer triangle and three constellations are best seen in the night sky around June, and the Milky Way runs through the triangle, though it is best to be way out in the country away from town and city lights to get a good shot of that.
Well folks I hope y'all enjoyed my photos. Be sure to leave a comment below and have a wonderful Dixie evening, and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!
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