- 5 August 2016
Alpha Phoenicis is also called Ankaa which is derived from Arabic meaning ‘the phoenix’ and also sometimes as Nair al-Zaurak meaning ‘the bright star of the skiff’. It is the 85th brightest star in the night sky shining with 80 times the luminosity of the Sun. Petrus Plancius, a Dutch astronomer, was the first to catalogue this star in the 16th century.
Read the full article- 3 August 2016
Capricornus means “the goat” in Latin. It can be found in the fourth quadrant of the Southern hemisphere and is located specifically between latitudes of +60° and -90°. Like all the Zodiac signs, Capricorn was first catalogued in the 2nd century by Ptolemy, who was a Greek astronomer.
Read the full article- 29 July 2016
Alpha Persei is also called Mirfak and is considered the star marking ‘the elbow’ of the constellation Perseus. It is approximately 60 times the size of the Sun and has 7.3 solar masses. In fact, if Mirfak was situated where the Sun is from Earth, it would cover several thousand times more sky.
Read the full article- 28 July 2016
Canis Minor is derived from the Latin language and means “the lesser or smaller dog.” It represents the smaller dog following the hunter Orion. It can be found in the second quadrant of the Northern hemisphere and is located specifically between latitudes of +90° and -75°. Along with other constellations, Canis Minor was first catalogued in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer, Ptolemy.
Read the full article- 21 July 2016
Canis Major is derived from the Latin language and means “the greater dog,” representing the bigger dog following Orion. It can be found in the second quadrant of Southern hemisphere and is located specifically between latitudes of +60° and -90°. This constellation was also catalogued by the Greek astronomer, Ptolemy, in the 2nd century.
Read the full article- 20 July 2016
Alpha Pegasi is also know as Marak or Marchab which means ‘the saddle of the horse’ in Arabic. It is the third brightest star in the constellation Pegasus and one of the four stars in the asterism ‘Great Square of Pegasus’. Alpha Pegasi is very hot and has expanded to almost five times the radius of the Sun.
Read the full article- 14 July 2016
Canes Venatici is derived from the Latin language and means “hunting dogs,” representing the hunting dogs of the herdsman in the Bootes constellation. It can be found in the third quadrant of the Northern hemisphere and is located specifically between latitudes of +90° and -40°. This constellation is also home to the famous Cor Caroli and La Superba stars.
Read the full article- 13 July 2016
Alpha Ophiuchi is also called ‘Rasalhague’ and can be found in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It’s a binary star system with its main star being 2.4 times the mass of the Sun. This star system is the brightest in its constellation and the 69th most luminous in the night sky. It came very close to the Sun around 389,000 years-ago.
Read the full article- 6 July 2016
Cancer means “the crab” in Latin and is the faintest of the 12 zodiac signs. It can be found in the second quadrant of the Northern hemisphere and is located specifically between latitudes of +90° and -60°. Like all the Zodiac signs, Cancer was first catalogued in the 2nd century by Ptolemy, who was a Greek astronomer.
Read the full article- 5 July 2016
Alpha Leporis is located in the constellation of Lepus, ‘the Hare’, and is also called ‘Arneb’. This 13 million year-old star is considered a lower luminosity yellow-white supergiant that may be entering the last phase of its cycle. It has a mass 14 times the Sun and 129 times its solar radius. Arneb was catalogued in the 2nd century by a Greek astronomer, Ptolemy.
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