Before dawn tomorrow – February 12, 2015 – look to the right of the sunrise direction for the moon and golden planet Saturn. They’ll be near the upper part of the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. The bright reddish star Antares – Heart of the Scorpion – is also nearby. And you might notice a little arc of three stars in the vicinity of the moon and Saturn. These three are sometimes called the Crown of the Scorpion. Individually, the Crown stars are Graffias, Dschubba, and Pi Scorpii. While the moon is near the Crown of the Scorpion for only few days each month, Saturn will remain in the vicinity of the Scorpion’s Crown for the rest of 2015.
It’s rare when star patterns on our sky’s dome have anything to do with real associations of stars in space, but the Crown stars are thought to be loosely bound by gravity. All three are located at approximately the same distance, about 500 light-years away. All are thought to be members of the Scorpius-Centaurus group, which was first recognized by astronomers in the early part of the twentieth century.
About 100 stars are known in the Scorpius-Centaurus group, including Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius – also pictured on today’s chart. The moon, by the way, will move closer to Antares on February 13. The Scorpius-Centaurus stars share a common motion through space. They were probably all born from a single vast cloud of gas and dust. In other words, these stars are much like a family – loosely bound – sharing a common history.
If you’re clouded out on Thursday morning, don’t worry. The moon will be even closer to Saturn on Friday morning, as the chart below shows.
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If you’re up before sunrise February 12-14, 2015, watch the moon slide down the ecliptic – pathway of the sun, moon and planets.
By the way, it’s a waning crescent moon that you’ll find in the predawn hours February 12. And, as the moon wanes this month, it’s also edging closer to Earth in its orbit, heading toward its monthly perigee, or closest point to Earth for the month. The moon will reach this month’s perigee only 8 hours after the moon turns new on February 18 at 23:47 UTC (6:47 p.m. CDT). That makes this month’s new moon a supermoon. It also happens to be a Black Moon.
Bottom line: Look for the Crown of the Scorpion to the east (or left) of the waning crescent moon in the predawn hours February 12.
Almost gone … EarthSky lunar calendars for 2015.
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1CP1L70
Before dawn tomorrow – February 12, 2015 – look to the right of the sunrise direction for the moon and golden planet Saturn. They’ll be near the upper part of the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. The bright reddish star Antares – Heart of the Scorpion – is also nearby. And you might notice a little arc of three stars in the vicinity of the moon and Saturn. These three are sometimes called the Crown of the Scorpion. Individually, the Crown stars are Graffias, Dschubba, and Pi Scorpii. While the moon is near the Crown of the Scorpion for only few days each month, Saturn will remain in the vicinity of the Scorpion’s Crown for the rest of 2015.
It’s rare when star patterns on our sky’s dome have anything to do with real associations of stars in space, but the Crown stars are thought to be loosely bound by gravity. All three are located at approximately the same distance, about 500 light-years away. All are thought to be members of the Scorpius-Centaurus group, which was first recognized by astronomers in the early part of the twentieth century.
About 100 stars are known in the Scorpius-Centaurus group, including Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius – also pictured on today’s chart. The moon, by the way, will move closer to Antares on February 13. The Scorpius-Centaurus stars share a common motion through space. They were probably all born from a single vast cloud of gas and dust. In other words, these stars are much like a family – loosely bound – sharing a common history.
If you’re clouded out on Thursday morning, don’t worry. The moon will be even closer to Saturn on Friday morning, as the chart below shows.
Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!
If you’re up before sunrise February 12-14, 2015, watch the moon slide down the ecliptic – pathway of the sun, moon and planets.
By the way, it’s a waning crescent moon that you’ll find in the predawn hours February 12. And, as the moon wanes this month, it’s also edging closer to Earth in its orbit, heading toward its monthly perigee, or closest point to Earth for the month. The moon will reach this month’s perigee only 8 hours after the moon turns new on February 18 at 23:47 UTC (6:47 p.m. CDT). That makes this month’s new moon a supermoon. It also happens to be a Black Moon.
Bottom line: Look for the Crown of the Scorpion to the east (or left) of the waning crescent moon in the predawn hours February 12.
Almost gone … EarthSky lunar calendars for 2015.
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1CP1L70
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