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Constellation Quest!

Radiant123
Radiant123 Posts: 410
edited September 2020 in Off-Topic

Welcome to another of the community's fun games!

How to Play: In this game, the first player starts with the first Greek letter name (Alpha). The player posts descriptions of any constellation starting with the Greek letter name's first letter. The second player posts a constellation that starts with the first letter of the name Beta, and so on. You need to memorize Greek letter names and constellation names in order to play this game. Note: If no constellation matches with a Greek letter name, post a star name instead. For example, since no constellations start with a Z, post a star that does, such as Zubeneschamali. Post a description of that star, including which constellation it belongs to.

Alpha: Andromeda, the Chained Maiden

Andromeda is a large constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, covering an area of 722 sky degrees. It consists of 7 main stars, 3 bright and 4 dim, that make it fairly easy to recognize. The rest of the stars that make up Andromeda are dim and indistinct. This makes tracing the entire constellation somewhat hard. It is visible at latitudes between 90 and -40 degrees. Andromeda is an autumn constellation, as it is highest in the sky in November. It most notably contains the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), which appears as a faint oval smudge to the naked eye. It lies 2.5 million light years away and contains about one trillion stars.

Comments

  • rajdeeptb
    rajdeeptb Posts: 4,325

    Beta Centauri, is the second-brightest object in the constellation of Centaurus. It is the 11th brightest star in the night sky though it is actually a triple star system.

    • Beta Centauri has an apparent magnitude of 0.61, and an absolute magnitude of – 4.53, being around 390 light-years / 120 parsecs away from the Sun.
    • The Beta Centauri star system is composed out of three stars. Two of them – Beta Centauri Aa and Ab are of the spectral class B1 III, while the third one, Beta Centauri B is of spectral type B1V.
    • Beta Centauri Aa and Ab are blue giant stars that are evolving away from the main sequence. Both stars are also Beta Cephei Variable stars – thus they have multiple pulsations of just a few hours.
    • Beta Centauri B has been determined to be a blue-white dwarf.
    • Beta Centauri Aa is the biggest star out of the Centauri system. It has around 10.7 solar masses and a radius of around 13 times that of the sun.
    • Beta Centauri Ab appears to be the second biggest star, with an estimated 10.3 solar masses, though its radius is unknown.
    • Beta Centauri B has been estimated to have around 4.61 solar masses.
    • All the stars in the Beta Centauri system appear to be several times bigger than our sun.
    • Both Beta Centauri A and B appear to have similar surface temperatures. It has been estimated that they have around 2.500 K with a margin of minus or plus 2.000 K.
    • The Beta Centauri system is estimated to be around 14.1 million years old. It is quite young, much younger than our sun.


  • Glenn1972
    Glenn1972 Posts: 16,650
    edited September 2020

    Gamma: Gemini Constellation

    Gemini constellation represents the twins Castor and Polydeuces in Greek mythology. The brothers were also known as the Dioscuri, which means “sons of Zeus.” In most versions of the myth, however, only Polydeuces was Zeus' son, and Castor was the son of the mortal King Tyndareus of Sparta.

    Gemini is the 30th largest constellation in the sky, occupying an area of 514 square degrees. It lies in the second quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ2) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -60°. The neighboring constellations are AurigaCancerCanis MinorLynxMonocerosOrion and Taurus.

  • Radiant123
    Radiant123 Posts: 410
    edited September 2020

    Hello @rajdeeptb and @Glenn1972

    D in Delta is for Delphinus The constellation is shown in the center of the top photo. See the bottom photo to learn how to recognize it.

    Although small and dim (Delphinus covers an area of only 189 square degrees, ranks 69 of 88 in size, and contains no star brighter than fourth magnitude), this constellation was recognized by the ancient Greeks and contains several myths associated with it. This constellation is bordered by Aquarius, Aquila, Equuleus, Pegasus, Sagitta, and Vulpecula. It bears a remarkable resemblance to a dolphin leaping out of the water. Because of this shape, it is easy to recognize in the sky. A northern summer constellation, it is visible at latitudes between 90 degrees and -70 degrees. The Milky Way crosses the southwest corner of the constellation. The brightest star is Rotanev (Beta Delphini) with a magnitude of 3.64. It is a binary star system located about 101 light years from Earth. Delphinus contains a number of deep-sky objects, including the Blue Flash Nebula (NGC 6891).

  • Glenn1972
    Glenn1972 Posts: 16,650

    Epsilon

    Equuleus Constellation

    Equuleus is a constellation. Its name is Latin for "little horse", a foal. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is the second smallest of the modern constellations, spanning only 72 square degrees. Wikipedia

    Symbolismthe pony

    Pronunciation/ɪˈkwuːliəs/ Equúleus, genitive /ɪˈkwuːliaɪ/

    Declination+10°

    Right ascension21h

    StarsDelta EquuleiGamma Equulei6 EquuleiBeta EquuleiMORE

    NamesFoal, Little Horse, The Pony

  • Pounawea
    Pounawea Posts: 4,512

    Dear Candy Crushers, I'm loving this Constellation Quest, so interesting!

    I'm going to move this thread to another are of the forum: the fun area.

    Have a delicious and magical day. 🍬 ⭐️

  • @rajdeeptb There is a constellation, Boötes, that starts with a B. Anyway, I'm starting with Z in Zeta.

    Zeta is for Zubeneschamali. This is not a constellation because there's no constellation that stars with Z. But here's a photo of Zubeneschamali's constellation.

    Yes, this star is the brightest star in the constellation of Libra. As the beta star, it has a magnitude of +2.6.

    The star got its name when it was part of Scorpius, the scorpion. Its name means "Northern Claw" in Arabic. It is said to be a green star. It lies 185 light years away.

Hey! Would you like to give us your opinion?