That means the cluster is very old, possibly older than our galaxy or at least close to the same age of about 10 billion years. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products.
List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Carolyn Collins Petersen. Astronomy Expert. Carolyn Collins Petersen is an astronomy expert and the author of seven books on space science. She previously worked on a Hubble Space Telescope instrument team. Facebook Facebook. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format.
Petersen, Carolyn Collins. Libra is one of the 12 zodiac constellations in the ecliptic, and one of the 88 constellations in the catalog of the International Astronomical Union. Learning how to find Libra in the night sky is very easy when you follow a couple steps explained below.
Libra is one of the simplest shaped constellations. Libra can be seen in the sky between December and August in the U. The best time to watch it, and when it is easiest to find, is in June when it is directly overhead around PM. Between September and November, Libra is positioned behind the Sun, making it impossible to observe from Earth. This data is for the Northern hemisphere U.
As seen in the table above, Libra moves between the Eastern and Western sky depending on the month and the time of the night you observe it. It is located in the SQ3 quadrant and crosses the ecliptic plane just like the rest of the zodiac constellations. The ecliptic line or ecliptic plane is the imaginary line that follows the path Earth trajectory around the Sun.
The brightest star in Libra is Beta Librae , more commonly know as Zubeneschamali. This star only has an apparent magnitude brightness of 2. For comparison, Sirius, the brightest star we can see from Earth has an apparent magnitude of Remember that in magnitude, less means brighter. Still, it is a very easy process that you can master in a couple of minutes by following 3 simple steps. The Big Dipper is an easy-to-find asterism kind of like an unofficial constellation located in the Ursa Major constellation.
Libra constellation sits between 10 — 30 degrees south latitude. Therefore, the further south your position the further north it will appear in the sky. Best visible at in June. December : appear on the eastern horizon at It will continue moving west until sunrise when it will be 20 degrees above the south east horizon.
January : appear on the south east horizon at It will continue moving west until sunrise when it will be 40 degrees above the southern horizon.
February : appear on the south east horizon at , reaching its peak at , 45 degrees above the southern horizon. It will continue moving west until sunrise when it will be 40 degrees above the south west horizon. March : appear on the south east horizon at , reaching its peak at , 45 degrees above the southern horizon. It will continue moving west until sunrise when it will be 35 degrees above the south west horizon. April : appear on the south east horizon at , reaching its peak at , 45 degrees above the southern horizon.
It will continue moving west until sunrise when it will be 20 degrees above the south west horizon. May : appear on the south east horizon at , reaching its peak at , 45 degrees above the southern horizon. It will continue moving west until when it will begin to be only partially visible on the south west horizon.
June : 40 degrees above the south east horizon at sunset, reaching its peak at , 45 degrees above the southern horizon. July : 40 degrees above the south horizon at sunset. It will continue moving west until when it will begin to be only partially visible on the western horizon. August : partially visible above the western horizon before sunset becoming difficult to observe from Trajectory : The constellation is between 10 — 30 degrees south which means that for those in low latitudes of the northern hemisphere is will pass in the southern sky.
For those in higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere it will appear very low in the southern sky for limited time each night. Its peak trajectory in Wadi Rum is 45 degrees above the southern horizon from February through June. Not the right time for Libra constellation? Have a look what constellations you can see tonight. Libra is a very faint constellation and it is difficult to find without any bright stars. The constellation can be found with the aid of neighbouring constellations.
Scorpius is the best reference although it can appear low in the sky and for a short time for viewers at higher northern hemisphere latitudes. Spica the bright star in Virgo is another star that can be used to find the correct area of the sky to see Libra. Unfortunately even when the correct area is found it can be difficult to interpret the form as the stars are very faint with many bright stars in nearby Scorpius.
Option 1: Scorpius. The head of Scorpius point directly toward Libra. The north claw points towards the top of the scales and the south claw points towards the weights at the base of the scales.
The bright star of Spica in Virgo is very prominent and is a good reference for nearby Libra. If you have identified Spica and Arcturus to the west of Libra then you can find Libra.
0コメント