Didascalia: Vincitore del concorso di astrofotografia IAU OAE 2022, categoria Immagini fisse di modelli celesti. Questa immagine, scattata in Slovacchia nel gennaio 2022, mostra regioni della Via Lattea e una ricca varietà di costellazioni. Le costellazioni estive dell'emisfero settentrionale sono molto basse nel cielo, in basso a destra. Le stelle luminose del Cigno e della Lira brillano attraverso le luci artificiali all'orizzonte. La vasta gamma di costellazioni settentrionali invernali e autunnali, con molte stelle luminose, è associata a diverse culture. Per i Lakota del Nord America la cintura della costellazione di Orione rappresenta la spina dorsale di un bisonte ("Tayamnicankh"). Orione, il cacciatore della mitologia greca, è talvolta descritto mentre insegue le sette sorelle, le Pleiadi. Gli arabi trasformarono questa visione considerando la seguace delle Pleiadi solo una stella anziché una costellazione. Aldebaran, la stella nell'occhio destro del Toro, deriva da questa interpretazione, perché il nome Aldebaran deriva da al-dabaran, la seguace. In basso a destra, all'orizzonte, si può vedere il lattiginoso cono di luce zodiacale che si estende dalla costellazione dei Pesci attraverso l'Ariete, fino quasi a raggiungere le Pleiadi, indicando il percorso dei pianeti e della Luna in quest'area. Le Pleiadi e le Iadi formano insieme una porta su questo percorso, dove i corpi celesti passano occasionalmente prima di entrare nella Via Lattea. I pianeti erano considerati pecore nell'antica Babilonia e la moderna costellazione di Orione era considerata il "Vero Pastore" del cielo, con il suo strumento da pastore che raggiungeva l'eclittica. Nella tradizione romana, la stella bianca e luminosa che sovrasta le Pleiadi e la Via Lattea è chiamata Capella, che può essere fatta risalire a una costellazione egizia presente in quest'area. Sopra la chioma degli alberi, nella parte centrale destra dell'immagine, vediamo il quadrato autunnale, la Galassia di Andromeda e il motivo a W di Cassiopea. A sinistra di questo gruppo, nella parte centrale della Via Lattea visibile, si trova la costellazione di Perseo, mentre Cefeo nell'area scura sopra Cassiopea completa la famiglia celeste. La saga di Andromeda è una storia greca proveniente dall'area che oggi si chiama Israele e affonda le sue radici nelle tradizioni siriane. Il luogo in cui si trova Andromeda era considerato dagli antichi babilonesi come il luogo della dea dell'amore sessuale, e dai siriani come il luogo della dea della fertilità. Secondo la saga, Andromeda fu incatenata a una roccia sulla costa di Jaffa (Tel Aviv) per proteggere la sua terra da un mostro marino. Il nome dell'eroe che la salvò è Perseo, che probabilmente significa "dalla Persia" (l'odierno Iran). Nella valle si notano le luci delle città. La luce gialla sopra l'orizzonte indica le città più grandi, che si distinguono per l'inquinamento luminoso.
Crediti: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

Didascalia: The constellation Aquarius along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Aquarius is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Pegasus, Equuleus, Aquila, Capricornus, Piscis Austrinus, Sculptor, Cetus and Pisces. Aquarius lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Aquarius from mid February to mid March. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Aquarius. Aquarius spans the celestial equator and is thus visible at some time in the year from all of planet Earth. In the most arctic or antarctic regions of the world, some parts of the constellation may not be visible. Aquarius is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere autumn and southern hemisphere spring. The yellow circles with plus symbols superimposed on them mark the globular clusters M2 and M72. The green circles superimposed on plus symbols mark the planetary nebulae NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) and NGC 7002 (the Saturn Nebula). M73 (marked with an x symbol) is a coincident grouping of stars previously erroneously classified as an open cluster. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination and with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Crediti: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

Didascalia: The constellation Pisces along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Pisces is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Andromeda, Pegasus, Aquarius, Cetus, Aries and Triangulum. Pisces lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Pisces from mid March to mid April. Thus the Sun is in Pisces at the March equinox. At this point the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator. The Sun’s location at the spring equinox is used to set the zero point of the Right Ascension positional coordinate. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Pisces. Pisces spans the celestial equator and is thus visible at some time in the year from all of planet Earth. In the most arctic or antarctic regions of the world, some parts of the constellation may not be visible. Pisces is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere autumn and southern hemisphere spring The grand design spiral galaxy M74 is marked on this diagram with a small red circle. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination and with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Crediti: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

Didascalia: The constellation Aries along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Aries is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Triangulum, Pisces, Cetus, Taurus and Perseus. Aries lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Aries from mid April to mid May. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Aries. Aries lies just north of the celestial equator and is thus visible at some time in the year from all of planet Earth except for the most antarctic regions of the world. Aries is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere winter and southern hemisphere summer. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination and with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Crediti: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope