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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".
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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:
- APOD: 2024 December 3 Á Ice Clouds over a Red Planet
- APOD: 2024 November 10 Á Valles Marineris: The Grand Canyon of Mars
- Young Star Cluster NGC 1333
- APOD: 2024 September 9 Á Mars: Moon, Craters, and Volcanos
- APOD: 2024 June 5 Á Shadow of a Martian Robot
- Ares 3 Landing Site: The Martian Revisited
- The Shadow of Ingenuity s Damaged Rotor Blade