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The two brightest northern stars are Vega and Capella. In the star chart to the right, declination is shown by the radial coordinate, starting at 90° north in the center and decreasing to 30° north at the outer edge. Sidereal hour angle is shown as the angular coordinate, starting at 0° at the left of the chart, and increasing counter-clockwise.
A star chart of the entire Northern Sky, centered on the north celestial pole. The northern celestial hemisphere, also called the Northern Sky, is the northern half of the celestial sphere; that is, it lies north of the celestial equator. This arbitrary sphere appears to rotate westward around a polar axis due to Earth's rotation.
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinized to Alpha Ursae Minoris) and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that fluctuates around 1.98, [3] it is the brightest star in the constellation and is readily visible to the naked eye at ...
Northern Hemisphere circumpolar stars around Polaris, with a long-exposure producing a star trail photo. A pole star is a visible star that is approximately aligned with the axis of rotation of an astronomical body; that is, a star whose apparent position is close to one of the celestial poles.
Such multiple star systems are indicated by parentheses showing the individual magnitudes of component stars bright enough to make a detectable contribution. For example, the binary star system Alpha Centauri has the total or combined magnitude of −0.27, while its two component stars have magnitudes of +0.01 and +1.33. [3]
Orion is a prominent set of stars visible during winter in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is one of the 88 modern constellations; it was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. It is named after a hunter in Greek mythology.
Perhaps the oldest European star map was a parchment manuscript titled De Composicione Spere Solide. It was most likely produced in Vienna, Austria in 1440 and consisted of a two-part map depicting the constellations of the northern celestial hemisphere and the ecliptic.
The star is circumpolar if θ + δ is greater than +90° (observer in Northern Hemisphere), or θ + δ is less than −90° (observer in Southern Hemisphere). "A star whose diurnal circle lies above the horizon never sets, even though it cannot be seen during the day. Designation of a star as circumpolar depends on the observer's latitude.