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Credit & Copyright: Francois du Toit
Explanation:
Moderately bright
Zubenelgenubi is the star
just off the upper right hand limb of an
eclipsed Moon in
this telescopic view
from Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Actually the second brightest star in the constellation Libra,
Zubenelgenubi is fun to pronounce (try
zoo-BEN-al-je-NEW-bee ...) and
rewarding to spot in the night sky as it has a fainter
companion star, seen here on the far right.
Astronomer Francois du Toit reports that both stars were visible
to the unaided eye on the night of
May 4th, during the Moon's total
eclipse phase.
Orbiting a common center
of gravity once every 200,000 years or so,
the two stars are both larger and hotter than the Sun.
About 77 light years away they are separated from each other
by over 730 light hours -- about 140 times Pluto's average
distance from the Sun.
Zubenelgenubi
was once
considered the southern claw of
the nearby arachnologically correct constellation
Scorpius.
What star was the northern claw?
Zubeneschamali, of course.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Libra - lunar eclipse - binary star
Publications with words: Libra - lunar eclipse - binary star
See also: