|
Credit & Copyright: Chris
Schur
Explanation:
The heralded alignment of wandering planets
Saturn and Mars with the
well-known
Beehive Cluster took place last weekend on
Saturday, June 17.
Recorded in dark Arizona skies on that date,
this view finds
Mars above and right of Saturn - the brightest celestial
beacons in the scene - with the Beehive cluster of stars (M44)
at the lower right.
The two planets appear in
conjunction
separated by just over half a degree.
But about another half a degree along a line joining the
two and continuing towards the lower left lies the third
brightest object in the image, giant star Asellus Australis.
Asellus Australis is also known as
Delta Cancri,
a middling bright star 136 light-years away
in the constellation Cancer,
the Crab.
Of course, this star's Latin
name
translates to "Southern Donkey".
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Mars - star cluster - beehive cluster
Publications with words: Mars - star cluster - beehive cluster
See also:
- Ares 3 Landing Site: The Martian Revisited
- The Shadow of Ingenuity s Damaged Rotor Blade
- APOD: 2024 January 15 Á Star Cluster IC 348 from Webb
- APOD: 2023 December 10 Á Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain
- APOD: 2023 November 7 Á A Martian Dust Devil Spins By
- Five Meters over Mars
- MAVEN s Ultraviolet Mars