The Sky on June 2009

This feature highlights a number of meteor showers, comets and asteroids which are visible during the month of June 2009.

Note: If anyone has pictures or observations of these objects/events and want to share them, send me a comment. I’ll post them here.

Planets

Mercury - Mercury will be a morning object during June. Though it will be best placed for observation around the date of June 20, it will be visible for a week after that date. In fact, the planet will be slowly brightening during the time, so later dates may be easier for observing this elusive planet. Mercury can be seen very low in ENE sky right before dawn. It is better placed (higher in the sky) for southern hemisphere observers.

Saturn – Saturn is the easiest planet to observe in June. By the end of twilight, Saturn is high in the southwest under the eastern part of the constellation of Leo.

This year Saturn is dimmer than usual. At magnitude +0.9 to +1.0, there are at least a dozen or more stars that are brighter than it. The reason is the rings of Saturn contribute a lot to the brightness of Saturn. But this year, is a ring plane crossing year meaning that the rings are nearly edge-on. As a result, the rings are reflecting much less light in the Earth’s direction this year. Saturn’s appearance through a telescope closely matches the below image taken on April 23. In June, the rings will be even closer to edge on then they were in the image below.

The Moon will pass a relatively distant 5.8 degrees to the south of Saturn on the evening of June 27.

Jupiter and Neptune - Jupiter rises in the middle of the night. Other than Venus, it is the brightest “star” at dawn with a magnitude of -2.5 to -2.7. Due to Jupiter’s location in the southern constellation of Capricornus , it never gets very high this year.

For those with a telescope or binoculars and a dark sky, Neptune is located within 1/2 to 3/4 degrees of Jupiter. Jupiter will be a bright magnitude -2.5 to -2.7 while Neptune will be a faint +7.9. That makes Jupiter nearly ~12,000 times brighter than Neptune. Even Jupiter’s 4 large Galilean moons are about a dozen times brighter than Neptune even though they are much smaller. The big reason for the faintness of Neptune is its distance from both the Earth and Sun. It is roughly 6 times further away from us and the Sun as Jupiter. The distance also explains its apparent small size of 2.3″. A good sized telescope will be required to see Neptune as anything other than a faint star.

Though Neptune wasn’t discovered until 1846, it was actually observed by Galileo on two occasions in 1612 and 1613. Similar to this month’s circumstances, Jupiter was passing very close to Neptune. Galileo observed and recorded Neptune as a star in the vicinity of Jupiter. There is also evidence that he noticed that Neptune had moved but didn’t follow up on it. So when you observe these 2 planets imagine what Galileo must have been thinking nearly 400 years ago.

Uranus – Uranus is located in western Pisces. It is bright enough to be seen in small binoculars at magnitude +5.8 but will still require a telescope in order to see it as anything other than a star (it’s disk is only 3.5″ across).

Venus - Venus continues to slowly climb higher every night. It is currently a morning object and is best seen an hour before sunrise low in the eastern sky. For Southern Hemisphere observers, it is near its highest above the horizon for this apparition. For Northern observers, Venus will continue to climb higher until early August.

For binocular and telescope users, Venus will start the month as a “half moon”, 25″ across and 47% illuminated. By the end of the month, it will have shrunk to 19″ across but will also have a gibbous phase illuminated at 61%.

Mars – Mars can be seen very low in the eastern sky all month long. At magnitude +1.1, it is only as bright as some of the brighter stars. Mars and Venus are located within 5 degrees of each other all month. Closest approach will occur on June 21 when Mars will pass within 2 degrees of Venus. The two will steadily move apart for the rest of the year.

Meteors

The month of June experiences no major showers and only one minor one. June is the last relatively low activity month before the “fireworks” of summer.

Sporadic Meteors

Sporadic meteors are not part of any known meteor shower. They represent the background flux of meteors. Except for the few days per year when a major shower is active, most meteors that are observed are Sporadics. This is especially true for meteors observed during the evening. During June, 8 or so Sporadic meteors can be observed per hour from a dark moonless sky.

Major Meteor Showers

None

Minor Meteor Showers

Minor showers produce so few meteors that they are hard to notice above the background of regular meteors.

June Bootids (JBO)

The June Bootids are usually a very minor shower with very low rates, if any meteors, seen in most years. On occasion the shower has put on good displays with as many as 50-100+ meteors per hour seen in 1998. Other years of enhanced activity include 1916, 1921, 1927 and 2004 when up to 30 meteors per hour were seen. The next predicted year for enhanced activity is next June in 2010. Though the shower is expected to be minor this year, the models aren’t perfect and anything can happen. Though active from June 22 to July 2, the peak night is June 27.

The parent of the June Bootids is the Jupiter family comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke. This comet was first seen by Jean-Louis Pons of Marsielles, France on 1819 June 12. Though it was recognized as a short period comet, a rarity at the time, it was lost until rediscovered by Friedrich Winnecke (Bonn, Germany) in 1858. Since then the comet has been observed at nearly every return including 3 returns when the comet passed exceptionally close to Earth (0.14 AU in 1921, 0.04 AU in 1927, and 0.11 AU in 1939). During the 1927 close approach the comet was bright enough to be an easy naked eye object. Since then the orbit of the comet has changed and moved further from the Sun and Earth. As a result, close approaches to Earth will not be possible until the comet’s orbit moves back closer to Earth’s around 2045.

Comets

Naked Eye Comets (V < 6.0)

None

Binocular Comets (V <>

None

Small Telescope Comets (V <>

Comet C/2008 Q3 (Garradd)

This is the surprise comet of the summer. From time to time what appears to be a faint run-of-the-mill comet will undergo an outburst and brighten substantially. This is the case with Comet Garradd which was discovered by Gordon Garradd of the Siding Spring Survey (Australia). He used the 0.5-m Uppsala schmidt telescope to discover this comet back on 2008 August 27.

The comet was a faint 19th magnitude at discovery. With perihelion expected on 2009 June 23 at 1.80 AU from the Sun, it was expected to brighten but only to about 12th-14th magnitude. Two weeks ago the comet was sitting at 15th magnitude. Bright enough for CCD imaging but too faint for nearly all visual observers. On April 20th Micheal Jager imaged the comet and found it too be much brighter. Over the next few days, visual observers were able to confirm the outburst and estimated the comet to be as bright as magnitude 8.9.

Now more than a month after its outburst, the comet continues to brighten and has recently been estimated at magnitude 7.2. With perihelion this month, the comet should be as bright as it gets though one never knows with outburst comets.

At the start of the month, the comet is located in the far southern constellation of Circinus. As a result, it is only observable from the Southern Hemisphere. This quickly changes as the comet rockets to the north and becomes visible for most northern observers by mid-month. The comet travels from Circinus through Centaurus and Hydra before ending the month in Corvus.

A finder chart for Comet Garradd can be found at Comet Chasing.

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Comet C/2008 T2 (Cardinal)

Rob Cardinal, an astronomer at the University of Calgary in Canada, discovered this comet last October. The comet was discovered as part of a survey at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory for new Near-Earth asteroids at high declinations. In fact the comet was found within 10 degrees of the North celestial pole. At the time of discovery, the comet was ~14th magnitude.

At perihelion on June 13th, the comet will pass within 1.20 AU of the Sun. The comet is currently magnitude 8.5 as it moves south from Gemini into Canis Minor in the evening sky. For northern observers, this comet is getting hard to see and requires a clear and dark western horizon right after dusk. It is easier to see for southern observers where it will be located higher in the sky. After the first week or 2 of June, the comet will no longer be observable from the Northern Hemisphere.

A finder chart for Comet Cardinal can be found at Comet Chasing.

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen)

This comet was discovered over 2 years ago on 2006 November 18 by Eric Christensen of the Catalina Sky Survey north of Tucson. At the time the comet was located at 8.7 AU from the Sun which is nearly the distance of Saturn. The comet continues to move closer to the Sun and Earth and is currently 3.8 AU from the Sun and 3.4 AU from the Earth.

The comet is currently around magnitude 8.8 and will slowly brighten during the month. It is moving near the border of Lacerta and Pegasus. The comet is best seen in the early morning.

The comet will reach perihelion at a still rather distant 3.12 AU from the Sun on 2009 July 6. At that time, the comet will be 8th magnitude and visible in many smaller backyard telescopes and even binoculars from dark sites. Christensen should remain bright enough to see in modest sized backyard telescopes for all of 2009.

On the morning of April 21, I was able to observe this comet with both 30×125 binoculars and a 12″ dobsonian. The comet was much easier to see in the 12″. Observation was made under a moderately light polluted sky with a limiting mag of ~+5.5.

A finder chart for Comet Christensen can be found at Comet Chasing and Aktuelle Kometen (in German).

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Comet C/2009 G1 (STEREO)

Jiangao Ruan of China found this comet on images taken by the SECCHI HI-1B instrument onboard one of the STEREO spacecraft. The comet was first visible on images taken on April 3 UT. Similar to SOHO (a spacecraft that was used to co-discover Comet C/2009 F6 (Yi-Swan)), the two STEREO spacecraft study the Sun and its immediate environment.

With perihelion on April 16 at 1.13 AU from the Sun, the comet is now moving away from the Sun. It is also moving away from the Earth and should slowly fade during the course of the month.

The comet starts the month the far southern constellation of Phoenix and will only travel further south reaching Pictor by month’s end . It was never an easy object for northern observers and is now only observable from southern latitudes.

A finder chart for Comet Christensen can be found at Comet Chasing and Aktuelle Kometen (in German).

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

22P/Kopff

All of the above comets are long-period comets which will not return to the inner Solar System in thousands to millions of years. Comet Kopff is a frequent visitor with an orbital period of 6.4 years. Discovered on 1906 August 20 by August Kopff of Germany, the comet has been observed during every subsequent return except one.

The comet reached perihelion at 1.58 AU from the Sun on May 25. Though now moving away from the Sun, the comet still moving closer to Earth and will be located 0.78 AU from us at the end of the month. Recent observations place the comet at magnitude 9.0 which is about as bright as it will get this apparition. The comet starts June in Capricornus north of Jupiter. For most of the month, Kopff is movng eastward through Aquarius.

A finder chart for Comet Kopff can be found at Comet Chasing.

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Asteroids

Binocular and Small Telescope Asteroids (V < 10.0)

(1) Ceres

Ceres is the biggest asteroid in the Main Belt with a diameter of 585 miles or 975 km. It is so big that it is now considered a Dwarf Planet. Classified as a carbonaceous (carbon-rich) Cg-type asteroid, there are suggestions that it may be rich in volatile material such as water. Some even propose that an ocean exists below its surface. Ceres is one of two targets for NASA’s Dawn spacecraft which is scheduled to visit it in 2015. This month Ceres fades from from magnitude 8.4 to 8.7 as it moves through eastern Leo in the evening sky. If you are observing Saturn with a telescope or pair of binoculars, try your hand at finding Ceres with one of the finder charts linked below.

A finder chart (needs to be flipped upside down for Northern Hemisphere observers) can be found at the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. Finder chart for Ceres from Heavens Above.

(7) Iris

Iris is an inner Main-Belt asteroid that can occassionally get as bright as any asteroid. This year, Iris will not get as bright but will still become a binocular object (albeit a difficult one) at opposition on July 4 at magnitude 8.7. During June, it is located in the constellation of Sagittarius at magnitude 9.7 at the start of the month and magnitude 8.8 at the end.

With a size of 240 x 200 x 200 km, Iris is the 5th largest stoney S-type asteroid. It was discovered in 1847 by John Russel Hind, the 1st of 10 asteroids he discovered.

A finder chart (needs to be flipped upside down for Northern Hemisphere observers) can be found at the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. Finder chart for Ceres from Heavens Above.

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The Bootids Meteor Shower

The next meteor shower is the June Bootids, this is the first summer shower. The Bootids meteor shower starts June 22nd and peaks on June 27th and ends July 2nd. The shower’s parent comet orbits our Sun once about every six years or so; the Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke reached a point closest to our Sun in September of 2008 (known as the perihelion when an planet, comet or asteroid is closest to the Sun in its orbit).

In 1998 and 2004 the June Bootids had some amazing outbursts reaching up to one hundred meteors per hour (100 ZHR). However, please don’t expect this same type of activity, but there are a few good things going for this shower for those of us viewing from the northern hemisphere. The meteor shower peaks in the morning of June 27th with a waxing crescent moon in the sky; this means less moonlight will be present and the shower’s radiant will be relatively high in the sky after midnight due west. This is good news because both of these factors make the possibility for seeing more meteors streak gallantly across the sky greater.

There are some that believe because the parent comet of this meteor shower passed so closely to Earth in 2008 that this year will be an excellent year with variable ZHRs as high as one hundred per hour again. I am always trying to be positive and enthusiastic but I also try to remain realistic as well. So I think the shower is worth a view but don’t get your hopes up too high, one never knows when it comes to meteor showers, just get out there and have a look.

Keep Your Head Up!

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

May 5, 6 and 7, 2009 Eta Aquarids

The shower has a relatively broad maximum but is expected to peak shortly before dawn on May 5 or 6. Although a waxing gibbous moon lights up most of the night, it’s not really a factor. This is strictly a predawn shower, not to take stage till after moonset! The radiant for this shower appears in the east-southeast at about 4 a.m. and the hour or two before dawn is the preferred viewing time. For the mid-northern latitudes, the rates for this shower are only about 10 to 15 per hour at maximum. Farther south, the meteor numbers increase dramatically. The broad peak to this shower means that some meteors may be seen a few days before and after the optimal date. The best time to watch is May 5 or 6 before dawn. But you’ll see some meteors before dawn on May 7 as well.

The Sky On April 2009

The Moon is in particularly fine form this month. It stages close encounters with all five of the naked-eye planets -- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn -- as well as the stars Regulus and Antares. On the morning of the 13th it will cover up Antares as seen from Hawaii and parts of Mexico, and on the 22nd it will cover up Venus as seen from most of the continental United States. The Moon even cooperates for the Lyrid meteor shower; at the shower's peak, the Moon is a thin crescent in the pre-dawn sky, so there's little moonlight to interfere with the show.

5 Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, stands a little to the left or upper left of the Moon at nightfall. The planet Saturn is below them.

6 Saturn, which looks like a bright golden star, aligns quite close to the Moon this evening, with Regulus above them.

12 Antares, the brightest star of Scorpius, huddles close to the Moon tonight. It is close to the Moon's lower left as they rise after midnight, and even closer at first light. As seen from Hawaii, the Moon will briefly cover up Antares on the morning of the 13th.

18 The brilliant planet Jupiter stands a little to the lower left of the Moon at first light. They are low in the southeast.

21 The Lyrid meteor shower is at its best tonight.

22 The Moon, Venus, and Mars congregate low in the east at first light. The Moon will pass across the face of Venus, briefly hiding the planet from view.

26 The Moon, the Pleiades, and the planet Mercury align low in the west-northwest as night falls. The Pleiades star cluster is a little below the Moon, with Mercury about the same distance below the Pleiades. Mercury looks like a fairly bright star. Binoculars will enhance the view.

Choose another month

The Sky in March 2009

1.The Sun

The Sun is in the constellation of Aquarius at the start of March, moving into Pisces on the 12th. In mid-March, the sky is reasonably dark between about 7:30 pm and 5:00 am GMT. The Spring Equinox falls on Friday March 20th; the Sun crosses the celestial equator from south to north. On this date, the Sun rises just after 6 am and sets just after 6 pm. After this, the days are longer than the nights. ritish Summer Time begins on Sunday March 29th. Clocks should go one hour forward on Saturday night.

2. The Moon

The Moon was New on Wednesday February 25th. In the first few days of March, the crescent will be visible in the western sky after sunset.

First Quarter is at 07:46 on Wednesday March 4th, when it’s in the constellation of Taurus. Around this date it is rising in the north-east in the middle of the morning, it’s high in the south at sunset, and it doesn’t set in the north-west until well into the early hours of the next morning. Over the next week, as it grows from half-lit to a gibbous shape, it rises and sets a little later each day, and appears a little lower in the sky.

Full Moon is at 02:38 on Wednesday March 11th, in Leo. At this phase, the Moon is on the opposite side of the sky to the Sun; so it rises in the east at sunset, shines all through the night, and sets in the west at sunrise the following morning. Then, as it wanes to gibbous again, it rises later every evening, but still sets just after sunrise.

The Moon is at Last Quarter at 17:47 UT on Wednesday March 18th, in the far-south constellation of Sagittarius. Around this date it is very poorly placed for viewing: it comes up in the south-east only a few hours before sunrise. During the following week, as it wanes to a “crescent” shape, it can only be glimpsed briefly before sunrise; we’ll probably lose sight of it after Sunday 22nd.

New Moon occurs again on at 16:06 on Thursday March 26th. The new crescent Moon should be visible in the western sky after sunset, from Friday 27th onwards. The Moon will be at First Quarter again on Thursday April 2nd.

3. Mercury

Throughout March, Mercury is rising only minutes before the Sun; it’s at superior conjunction (almost directly behind the Sun) on March 31st. We’re very unlikely to see this elusive little planet this month.

4. Venus

Venus is now coming to the end of its splendid appearance as the “Evening Star”. Relative to the stars, it is tracing out a looped path in Pisces – moving north at first, then more rapidly south-westwards. At the start of March, it’s well up in the western sky at sunset, and doesn’t set till 9:30 pm. But every night it appears a little lower, and sets a little earlier.

The crescent Moon was a little way to the upper left of Venus on the evening of Saturday February 28th. When the Moon comes round to the same part of the sky a month later, on March 27th, it will be barely visible in the sunset; Venus, to the lower right, will not be visible at all.

Venus is at inferior conjunction (almost directly in front of the Sun) on March 27th. At the very end of the month it is just starting to appear in the morning sky. But it won’t look so spectacular as a “Morning Star”, because it won’t appear very high in the sky.

5. Mars

This month, Mars is still rising only a few minutes before sunrise. We won’t be getting good views of the “Red Planet” until after the summer.

6. Jupiter

Jupiter, like Mars, rises less than an hour before the Sun this month. In theory, we could look for it towards the end of March, very low in the south-east just before sunrise; but it won’t be easy to see. Again, we won’t get good views of this giant planet until after the summer.

7. Saturn

Saturn is very well placed for viewing this month. It’s at opposition to the Sun on March 8th; so it is rising as the Sun sets, it’s due south at midnight, and it doesn’t set until sunrise.

Relative to the stars, it’s moving very slowly north-westwards in Leo, well to the lower left of the bright star Regulus. But Saturn appears brighter than Regulus, and it shines with a steadier light. The famous rings around Saturn can only be seen in a telescope.

In the early evening of Tuesday March 10th, the Moon will appear to the lower right of Saturn, about 6 degrees away. As the night goes by, the Moon moves further left, but it remains below Saturn all night.

8. Meteors

On any clear night, we may see the occasional meteor or “shooting-star”, as tiny specks of inter-planetary débris burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. At certain times of the year, the Earth travels through a cloud of this dust, and we get a meteor-shower.

There are no major meteor-showers in March, but we may see a handful of meteors from the Virginid shower, which is usually active during March and April; they appear to radiate outwards from the constellation of Virgo. Sporadic meteors, which don’t belong to any shower, may be seen on any night and in any direction.

9. Aurora Borealis

A display of the Aurora Borealis, or “Northern Lights”, is hard to predict in advance; it’s triggered by activity on the Sun, which may or may not interact with the Earth’s magnetic field.

It often begins as a faint greenish glow low on the northern horizon. This may brighten and rise higher in the sky, as an arc of green light; in a good display, the arc will develop vertical rays, perhaps of different colours, and may eventually converge into a “corona”.

Activity on the Sun follows a cycle of roughly 11 years, which is currently going through a prolonged minimum. However, even at minimum there are occasionally good auroral displays; and statistically, the aurora tends to be seen more often around the spring and autumn equinoxes. It’s always worth checking the northern sky, on any clear, dark night.

γ-Normids (GNO) Meteor Shower

Active:	February 25 — March 22
Maximum:	March 13 (λsol = 353°)
ZHR =	4
Radiant:	α = 239° δ = -50°
vinf =	56 km/s; r = 2.4
TFC:	α = 225° δ = -26° and α = 215° δ = -45° (β <>

γ-Normid meteors seem to be similar to the sporadics in appearance, and for most of their activity period, their ZHR is virtually undetectable above this background rate. The peak itself has been reported as quite sharp, with ZHRs of 3 to 4 often noted for only a day or two to either side of the maximum. Activity may vary somewhat at times, with occasional broader, or less obvious, maxima having been noted in the past. Limited data since 1999 have suggested the possibility of a maximum at some, albeit short-lived, stage between λ_sol ~ 350° — 357°, equivalent to 2008 March 10 — 17, while video information from the same period found the earlier radiant position to be no longer applicable. The details given here are now to be preferred. Post-midnight watching yields best results, when the radiant is rising to a reasonable elevation from southern hemisphere sites (the radiant does not rise for many northern ones). The shower badly needs more regular observation, and March's waxing Moon, at first quarter on March 14, means 2008 would be an excellent year to start. All observing techniques can be employed.

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor [Lat.,=the great bear; the little bear], two conspicuous northern constellations. Known to many peoples from ancient times, these constellations have had various names; the configuration of the seven brightest stars has been called the Bear, Septentriones (the seven plowing oxen), the Plow, Charles's Wain, and the Wagon. Ursa Minor was once known as Cynosura (from the Greek for “dog's tail”). In the United States part of Ursa Major is called the Big Dipper (or the Drinking Gourd) and part of Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper. Four of the seven bright stars in the Big Dipper form the bowl and three the handle; five of these stars are of second magnitude. The middle star in the handle of the Big Dipper is Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris). A fainter star, Alcor, which appears to be near Mizar, was observed from ancient times. These two stars are sometimes called a double star, but since they do not revolve around a common center of gravity they are not true doubles. Mizar itself is, however, a visual binary star and was the first to be recognized as such—by G. B. Riccioli in 1650. It was also the first spectroscopic binary to be discovered; this observation resulted from studies of the spectrum of the brighter component of Mizar, which revealed it as a binary consisting of a pair of stars of almost equal brightness. The two end stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper are known as the Pointers. A line extending through them to about five times the distance between them leads to the polestar (Polaris, or the North Star). Polaris is at the extreme end of the Little Dipper. Including Polaris there are three stars in the handle of the Little Dipper and four forming the bowl. The handles of the two Dippers extend in opposite directions, and when one bowl is upright the other is inverted. Ursa Major reaches its highest point in the evening sky in April and Ursa Minor its highest point in June. However, for observers in the middle and northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere both constellations are circumpolar and thus are visible throughout the year
Ursa Major Coordinates:
RA : 11:00
Declination : +58
Ursa Minor Coordinates;
RA : 15:40
Declination : +78

Pisces Constellations

Pisces (Lat.,=the fishes), constellation lying directly S of Andromeda and on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Aries and Aquarius; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Pisces is traditionally depicted as two fishes. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, the vernal equinox has moved westward from the constellation Aries (where it was located c.2,000 years ago) into Pisces. There are no exceptionally bright stars in Pisces, but a nova was observed there in 1925. Pisces reaches its highest point in the evening sky in November.Coordinates:RA : 00:20Declination : +10

Virgo Constellation

Virgo (Lat.,=the virgin), constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Libra and Leo, and SW of Boötes; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Virgo is traditionally depicted as a maiden holding an ear of grain to symbolize the harvest; various civilizations identified her with such figures as Ceres, Isis, Ishtar, and Rhea. The most prominent star is Spica (Alpha Virginis), a white star of first magnitude. In 1936 a supernova was discovered in Virgo. A famous cluster of 2,500 galaxies, the Virgo cluster, lies in the constellation; the radio galaxy Virgo A is also found there. Virgo reaches its highest point in the evening sky in late May.Coordinates :RA : 13:20Declination: -02

Aquila Constellation

Aquila [Lat.,=the eagle], equatorial constellation located N of Sagittarius and Capricornus, lying partly in the Milky Way. It is sometimes depicted as an eagle. It contains the bright star Altair (Alpha Aquilae) and the pulsating variable star Eta Aquilae. The brightest nova ever seen occurred in Aquila in 1918. Other novas were observed in Aquila in 389 and 1899; two were observed there in 1936. Aquila reaches its highest point in the evening sky in late August.
Coordinates:
RA : 19:30
declination : +02

Aquarius Constellation

Aquarius [Lat.,=water carrier], large constellation located on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Capricornus and Pisces; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Aquarius is sometimes represented as a man pouring water from a jar. Although it contains no stars of first or second magnitude, it does contain a recurrent nova observed in 1907 and again in 1962. Aquarius reaches its highest point in the evening sky in October.
Coordinates:
RA : 22:20
Declination: -13

Andromeda Constellation

Explanation: Andromeda, in astronomy, northern constellation located to the NE of Pegasus and to the S of Cassiopeia. Its brightest star, Alpheratz (Alpha Andromedae), marks the northeast corner of the Great Square in Pegasus. The constellation also contains the bright stars Mirach (Beta Andromedae) and Almach (Gamma Andromedae) and the famous Great Nebula, or Andromeda Galaxy, the only galaxy visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere. Andromeda reaches its highest point in the evening sky in November.
Coordinates:
RA :00:40
Declination:+38