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Newsletter
9
April 1999
The
15 Brightest Stars
This month I’ve compiled a list of the brightest stars as seen from
Earth (excluding the Sun of course, which is the brightest star of all), together with
some associated interesting facts. Why not file and keep this page, and bring it along to
viewing evenings - a fun and practical way to get to know all the important stars!
Brightest stars |
Constellation |
Distance
light years |
Interesting facts |
1.*
Sirius |
in Canis Major |
8.6 |
The Dog Star, whose summer
appearance, according to the Romans, made it responsible for the ‘heat of the Dog
Days’. |
2.
Canopus |
in Carina |
313 |
A celestial searchlight, 200 000
times brighter than the Sun! Used by spacecraft for navigation due to it also lying far
above the ecliptic. |
3.* Alpha
Centauri |
in Centaurus |
4.4 |
A triple star system, with only two
of the three stars being easily visible. The dim one (Proxima) is the closest star to
planet Earth. |
4.
Arcturus |
in Boötes |
37 |
Just as a comparison: the heat we
receive from Arcturus is equivalent to the heat received from an ordinary candle 8
kilometres away. |
5.
Vega |
in Lyra |
25 |
In the science fiction novel Contact
(now also a movie starring Jody Foster), this is the star the aliens sent their intriguing
message from. |
6.* Capella
|
in Auriga |
42 |
The two stars in this binary are so
close that it is impossible to see the two components separately even with a large
telescope. |
7.*
Rigel |
in Orion |
773 |
Another celestial searchlight - the
primary star in this binary system is 60 000 times more powerful than the Sun. |
8.*
Procyon |
in Canis Minor |
11 |
Its name means “rising before
the dog” ie. rising before Sirius, the Dog Star; as seen by ancient Mediterranean
civilizations. |
9.
Achernar |
in Eridanus |
144 |
Meaning “river’s end”,
this star is at one end of an imaginary ‘river of stars’ (the river Eridanus)
which starts close to the star Rigel. |
10.
Betelgeuse |
in Orion |
427 |
An immense supergiant star over 1000
times larger than the Sun! This star’s orange-red colour is clearly visible with the
naked eye. |
11.* Agena
(or Hadar) |
in Centaurus |
525 |
This is the second of the two
well-known Pointers to the left of the Southern Cross, and is more accurately known as
Beta Centauri. |
12.* Altair |
in Aquila |
17 |
This star is in fact egg-shaped -
with the equatorial diameter nearly twice the polar diameter! |
13.* Acrux
(or a Crux) |
in Crux |
321 |
Lacking a proper name, “a Crux” means this star is the first
(or brightest) star of the Crux (Southern Cross) constellation. |
14.* Aldebaran |
in Taurus |
65 |
The name means “follower”-
ie. of the Pleiades star cluster across the sky. Aldebaran is an orange star & also
known as the eye of the Bull. |
15.* Spica |
in Virgo |
262 |
Spica occurs very close to the
ecliptic - the imaginary plane or ‘racetrack’ along which the Sun, Moon and
planets appear to travel. |
*Stars marked with an asterisk are
multiple stars; namely binaries (double stars), unless otherwise stated |
|
It is interesting to note that only bright stars easily visible with the naked eye carry
proper names. These stars were first named by our ancestors (mostly from the northen
hemisphere), and that is why the majority carry ancient mythological names. The fainter
stars, and any new ones discovered today, are simply given names according to their
magnitude (ie. brightness) relative to the other stars in that constellation (eg. a Centauri, b Centauri, g Centauri, etc). Note too how common binary
star systems are. Indeed, about half of all the stars we can see at night are
actually multiple star systems!
NEW ASTRONOMY GROUP
- you will be delighted to know that the University of Natal now also has an Astronomy
Society, and AIG members are welcome to attend their meetings free of charge (see
reverse).
All enquiries:
Mario Di Maggio Tel: 300 6228 (w)
or 082 829 7645 or Mario Di Maggio
Viewing evening enquiries: Raymond Field Tel: 309 4126 (w) or
465 7188 (h)
|
Viewing Evenings
at Marist Bros. College* |
Special Events |
Meetings - 7:00PM
at
University of Natal* |
May
1999 |
First clear night of either:
Fri 14th or
Sat 15th or
Fri 21st or
Sat 22nd at 18h30 |
The second brightest of all stars, Canopus,
will begin rising just before dawn around May 24. In Zulu this star is called iKwenKwezi,
and has traditionally played the important role of marking the beginning of each new year
(and of winter) by its dawn appearance. In Sotho it is called Naka, meaning
the Horn Star, because of the custom of sounding a phalaphala horn to announce its
sighting. |
Thursday 6th May: “The
Search For Alien Worlds”
Thursday 20th May:
“The Hubble Space Telescope” |
June
1999 |
First clear night of either:
Fri 11th or
Sat 12th or
Fri 18th or
Sat 19th at 18h30 |
High up in the south we have the Southern
Cross with the two bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri to the
left. In parts of southern Africa this bright group of stars is known as the Giraffes - dithuthlwa in Sotho, or ‘rising
above the trees’. The Southern Cross is an ideal constellation to get to know well.
Once one becomes familiar with it, it is easy to slowly increase one’s knowledge of
the sky by discovering the other constellations around it. |
To be announced. |
July
1999 |
First clear night of either:
Fri 9th or
Sat 10th or
Fri 16th or
Sat 17th at 18h30 |
7:00PM, Wed 14th July,
at the Durban
Natural Science Museum:
“Astronomy in Southern African Rock
Art” -
illustrated presentation by Natural
Science Museum Research Associate
Mr Bert Woodhouse.
Admittance FREE. All welcome. |
To be announced. |
*Directions to Marist
Brothers College: travel south along Ridge Road from Tollgate towards Entabeni
Hospital. Just after the hospital turn right into Glenwood Drive, which is an L-shaped
road. At the end of the road you will see Marist Brothers College in front of you. Turn
left into the school car park. |
*Directions to lecture room
S4, Science Block, University of Natal: travel to the top of Francois Road, turn right
into the University private road. Directly after boom gate turn left and the Science Block
is on the right. |
|
|
