Tonight I was out taking some artsy photos of
my giant Sycamore Tree (Platanus occidentalis) as it
is getting its new leaves and won't be nearly so
dramatic for the next 10 months or so.
That's the Crescent Moon made to look full in this
30-second exposure.
The star that appears green high above the Sycamore tree
is Dubhe, about 122.9 light years from Earth. It is
in the constellation Ursa Major. It forms part
of the Big Dipper. The star is a red giant, an evolved
helium burning star. In reality it is several stars that
appear as one to the naked eye on Earth.
Below the Sycamore tree is the gazebo which glows bright
green with a street light attached to its roof.
Much to my surprise I heard a tremendous boom to the north
and then saw fireworks. I don't know what they were celebrating
at the nearby park. . . but it was quite a light show.
Unfortunately I could not see to reset my camera to a shorter
exposure so the fireworks are a little blurry in these 15-30 second exposures.
The last two big bursts of fireworks felt like they were
coming right through the big Sycamore tree.
When the fireworks were over I turned the camera skyward
to capture all of the Ursa Major constellation (Latin: "Larger Bear").
Click on the image above to see a larger image of the Big Dipper
without any enhancement in this 30-second exposure.
Above: This is another shot of Ursa Major with the main stars of the
Big Dipper asterism labeled.
Dubhe, already described above, is the second-brightest
star in the constellation.
Merak, only about 80 light years distant is one of the
pointers (with Dubhe). Together they point
toward Polaris (the north star).
Phad, about 83 light years away, is a star not unlike
our Sun, though somewhat hotter, brighter and larger.
Megrez, about 80 light years away is the dimmest of the
Big Dipper stars. It appears bluish-white and has two
faint companion stars.
Alioth, is the brightest star in this part of the night
sky and the 31st brightest star overall. Historically,
Alioth was used in celestial navigation in maritime
trade. It is listed as one of the 57 so-called navigational stars.
Mizar, about 86 light years distant is a stellar sextuple system
that if one looks very closely can be distinguished with
the naked eye.
Benetnash, 104 light years away is also known as the
"Star of Twinkling Brilliance". . .it is the 35th
brightest star in the sky. At a temperature of 20,000
kelvins it is one of the hotter stars visible with the naked eye.
Above: I drew a line between the stars for those (like me)
who have trouble making out these constellations and asterisms.
The Big Dipper is huge in the night sky and it was that
vastness that overwhelmed me when I was a student of
astronomy. Today I think what a short distance. . . and what a
waste that man has not sent a probe of some sort out to explore
these not-so-distant worlds. . . but instead spends countless
sums of money fighting one another and waging endless wars.
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