Night Sky Photography -- 03-21-2021 -- Mars Now A Part Of The Winter Circle

Good evening y'all and, as of March 20th, the Northern hemisphere welcomes the spring equinox of 2021!

This evening I was able to capture all of the major constellations and the seven brightest stars of the Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) asterism in the night sky on two photographs. Throughout March, Earth's closest celestial neighbor, Mars will unofficially makes up the eighth bright "star" of the Winter Circle. Luna -- now in her waxing moon phase -- can be see just above the Constellation Orion.

I've highlighted the constellations, as well as the Winter Circle and Winter Triangle asterisms.

Capturing the entire Winter Circle in frame in a single photograph is difficult as the asterism is quite large. Procyon, Sirius, and the bright star Betelgeuse in Orion's right shoulder make up the Winter Triangle asterism.

As you can see all of the brightest stars of the constellations and Mars came out very well in both photos, even in the glare of the moon, I was able to just pick up the stars that made up Orion's club.

As I've mentioned before in previous blog posts, the Winter Circle consists of seven bright stars in six separate constellations: Capella (Constellation Auriga the Charioteer), Pullox & Castor (Constellation Gemini the Twins), Procyon (Constellation Canis Minor "The Lesser Dog"), Sirius (Constellation Canis Major "The Greater Dog"), Rigel (Constellation Orion the Hunter), and Aldebaran (Constellation Taurus the Bull).

All but one of the Winter Circle stars are 1st-magnitude -- the brightest stars visible in our sky. Castor is a slightly fainter 2nd magnitude star. Spotting all of these stars are fairly easy if you know where to look as they are among the first to appear about an hour after sunset.

Well folks I hope y'all enjoyed my first night sky photography of the new season. Have a good evening and y'all be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies.

Confederate Flag Day -- March 4th

 

Approximately 160 years ago today, the "Stars and Bars" was adopted as the First National Flag of the Confederate States of America. It featured three bars of red, white and red, with a blue field of seven five-pointed stars in a circle, each representing the then seven seceded Southern states.

Miss Letitia "Letty" Christian Tyler, granddaughter of U.S. President John Tyler, raised the very first Stars and Bars flag at the original Confederate Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama on Monday, March 4, 1861.

Although less well known than the Confederate battle flags, the Stars and Bars was used as the official flag of the Confederacy for over two years until Saturday, May 2, 1863 when it was retired and replaced by the Stainless Banner (2nd Confederate National Flag).

The seven stars represent the original Confederate States:

South Carolina (December 20, 1860)
Mississippi (January 9, 1861)
Florida (January 10,1861)
Alabama (January 11, 1861)
Georgia (January 19, 1861)
Louisiana (January 26, 1861)
Texas (February 1, 1861)

Happy Confederate Flag Day, Y'all!

Night Sky Photography -- 03-03-2021 -- Mars & The Pleiades Conjunction

Good evening fellow stargazers!

This evening a couple of hours after sunset, your favorite blogger went out in my front yard and managed to capture several really good close-up shots of the conjunction between the planet Mars and the Pleiades Star Cluster in the western sky.

Mars swings 2.6 degrees south of the Pleiades, which appears on our sky’s dome as a tiny, misty dipper of stars. This will be the closest conjunction of the Red Planet and the Pleiades until 2038.

The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters or Messier 45, is a star cluster located in the Constellation Taurus the Bull.

The nine brightest stars in the cluster represent the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology: Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno, and Alcyone; and their parents, the nymph Pleione and the Titan Atlas.

The Pleiades are one of the nearest star clusters to Earth. Its brightest stars lie at an estimated distance of between 390 and 460 light years. The cluster is mostly composed of hot, blue, highly luminous Type B Stars with an estimated age under 100 million years.

Despite this, spotting the Pleiades at night can be kinda hard without a visual aid for some folks if y'all don't know where to look.

The best ways to spot the Pleiades in the sky dome is to look for the Constellation Orion The Hunter and follow a line from the "Orion's Belt" asterism to the bright star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull. The Pleiades can be spotted near the "Eye of the Bull" Aldebaran. I highlighted this in my second photo -- a wide shot of both constellations and the line from Orion's Belt to Aldebaran and the Seven Sisters.

The Seven Sisters are most prominent in the sky dome between October and April. In February it lies overhead in the evening. In May, it sets at sunset, before Orion. As the cluster lies near the ecliptic (the Sun’s path across the sky), it can’t be seen in May and June, because it is located too close to the Sun. By early November, the cluster rises in the east after sunset.

Be sure to check them out with a telescope, or a really good pair of binoculars, or camera lens.

I hope you enjoyed this evening's photographic offerings. Have a wonderful Dixie night, and y'all be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, folks!

If You Choose A Woman -- Poem

In honor of International Women's Day (March 8th) this post is dedicated to Heylei L. (1970 - 1998) and to that one summer we shared together.
RIP my Luna Moth Girl.

If you choose a working woman,
you have to accept that she can't handle the house full time.
If you choose a housewife who can take care of you and manage the home completely,
you need to accept that she doesn't make money.
If you choose a submissive woman,
you must accept that she depends on you.
If you choose to be with a brave woman,
you must accept that she is tough and has thoughts of her own.
If you choose a beautiful woman,
you have to accept expenses too.
If you choose to be with a great woman,
you must accept that she is tough and firm.
No woman is perfect.
A woman has her own ′′ good thing ′′ that defines who she is and makes her unique.

~ Arthur Unknown

P.S. If you choose a woman, please avoid gingers; they'll steal your soul! (LOL just kidding) ~ C.W. Roden

Night Sky Photography -- 02-17-2021 -- Moon, Mars & Aldebaran Between Winter Storms -- Congratulations Perseverance!

Good evening, fellow night sky watchers!

This past week, for one night only, the skies cleared after days of freezing cold wintry rain we frequently get in South Carolina this time of year. I was able to capture a wonderful shot of the moon with the planet Mars and the bright star Aldebaran high overhead about an hour after sunset on Wednesday, February 17th.

You can see our beautiful Luna on her way to her First Quarter Phase in line with the slightly faint coppery planet, Mars and the bright star, Aldebaran near the top.

As I have mentioned before in previous blog posts, the giant star Aldebaran is the brightest star in the Constellation Taurus The Bull, and at 65 light years from our own sun is the fourteenth largest star in our night sky. The name Aldebaran derives from the Arabic term al Dabaran, meaning "the follower" because it seems to follow the Pleiades in the night sky.

Mars recently made headlines here on Earth with the successful landing of the NASA rover, Perseverance, on the surface of the Red Planet's Jezero Crater as part of the Mars 2020 mission launched last summer. This is part of the ongoing mission by NASA to search for signs of ancient -- or possibly current -- microscopic life on Mars, as well as learning more about our world's closest planetary neighbor.

The landing actually took place on Thursday, February 18th, the day after this photo was taken millions of miles away here on Earth.

The first colorized photo of the surface of Mars taken by NASA's Perseverance
rover at the bottom of Jezero Crater on Thursday, February 18, 2021.
Image courtesy of NASA.

Well, as always I hope y'all enjoyed this post. Please let me know what y'all think in the comments below. As always have a wonderful evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies.