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Forgoing the Summer Triangle as it sets in the early winter evening
image
Created for the OAE
Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.
This image was taken from Nagano, Japan, in December 2018, and shows three prominent constellations: Aquila (towards the lower-left of the image), Cygnus (in the upper part of the image) and Lyra (bottom-right). The brightest stars within these constellations (Altair, Deneb and Vega) form the three vertices of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle. The star Altair is the brightest star towards the bottom-left of the image, Deneb is the brightest star towards the top-right of the image, and Vega is the brightest star towards the bottom-right of the image.
In Asian cultures the stars Vega and Altair represent a love story between the weaver girl and the herdsman, who are separated by the faint band of the Milky Way, but in July are allowed to cross the heavenly river (the Milky Way) to be together.
The Boorong people of Northeast Victoria, Australia, associate the reappearance of Vega — after its yearly disappearance from view — with the time when the Mallee fowls build nests. The Boorong also associate their indigenous constellation Neilloan with the goddess Mallee-hen (Vega), mother of Totyarguil (Altair), the hero who created the Murray River. In Wardaman traditions, the star Vega acts as a gateway to the Milky Way for spirits of the deceased.
The star name Altair is abbreviated from the Arabic “Al-Nasr Al-Ta’ir” (meaning “The Flying Eagle”) proving that the constellation of the Eagle (Aquila) is one of the most stable ones in history. Originating from the Babylonian epoch (carrying a king towards the sky), it was taken over by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs. The star name Deneb comes from the Arabic word “dhanab”, meaning “tail”, and refers to the Greek constellation of The Bird that is interpreted in the Roman tradition as a Swan (Cygnus), and as a Hen in the Arabic world. The third star name, Vega, comes from the Arabic “Al-Nasr Al-Waqi”, meaning “The Swooping Eagle'', because the indigenous (pre-Islamic) Arabic culture had a second eagle in the area of the Greek constellation Lyra. In the Early Modern Age, some Christian astronomers, inspired by the Arabic tradition, depicted this constellation as an eagle or vulture holding a lyre.
The image also shows a range of other constellations, including Delphinus, Sagitta, and Vulpecula. According to Greek mythology, Sagitta, The Arrow, carried the god of light and the goddess of fertility. In winter they set in the evening but in spring they rise again in the east, and are present for longer and longer in order to make the land fruitful and agriculture successful.
Credit: Kouij Ohnishi/IAU OAO
Glossary Terms:
Asterism
Categories:
Naked Eye Astronomy
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
This file on Zenodo ( image 18.48 MB)
The Pillar of Creation
image
Created for the OAE
Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.
This image shows the night sky over Tre Cime di Lavaredo, (Dolomites Natural Park), in the region of Veneto, Italy, in October 2021.
The bright spot on the left-hand side is the planet Jupiter, appearing in the constellation Capricorn. To the right of Jupiter and below the two horn stars of Capricorn is the planet Saturn. Just above Jupiter we can see parts of Aquarius, one of the largest constellations and also part of the Zodiac. North of these constellations, left of the Milky Way, there are mostly faint stars. The brighter whitish one in the top left corner is Enif, a binary star in the constellation Pegasus.
The Milky Way seems to emerge from a rock like celestial vapour. Roughly centred in the image are two bright stars left and right of the Milky Way: Altair and Vega, respectively. They seem to be separated by the galactic stream, as told in a popular Chinese folk story where they represent a loving couple. Today, in popular astronomy, the fairly bright star at the upper edge of the photograph is added to form a huge triangle with them, the Summer Triangle in the northern hemisphere.
Altair is the brightest star of the Babylonian constellation Aquila, the Eagle. In ancient Babylon, it was said that the Eagle was carrying king Etana up in the air so that he could see Earth from above. Next to the Babylonian Eagle was the constellation of the Corpse, that returned only in Roman times when Ptolemy put it below the Eagle as the new sub-constellation “Antinous”. It is seen as the corpse (or soul) of the Roman emperor Hadrian’s favourite who had just died in the Nile.
Vega is the bright white star to the right of the Milky Way. It forms part of the small constellation Lyra, famous for hosting the Ring Nebula, which is an impressive planetary nebula — a dying star blowing its gas into space.
At the right edge of the image, three stars in a bent row appear rather prominently. This is the handle of the Big Dipper pointing downwards to a bright star close to the horizon: Arcturus, the bright star of the constellation Bootes (Greek: the Ploughman). This kite-like constellation is probably a pagan interpretation of the Babylonian god “Enlil” whose constellation also occupied that place in the sky. The Romans re-interpreted this figure as The Ox-Driver who controlled the Seven Oxen seen in the bright stars of Ursa Major.
Directly right of Vega, there is the huge constellation Hercules and below it, directly to the left of Bootes, we find a half-circle of stars comprising the small constellation Corona Borealis, associated with Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete in Greek culture.
The lights seen in the bottom left side of the image are due to the reflection of artificial lights in the clouds.
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE
Glossary Terms:
Capricornus , Dust , Jupiter , Milky Way , Saturn , Dust Cloud , Interstellar Extinction
Categories:
Milky Way and Interstellar Medium
, Naked Eye Astronomy
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
This file on Zenodo ( image 10.71 MB)
