Category: Astronomy

The Cancer Constellation. Cancer is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab and it is commonly represented as one. Cancer is a medium-size constellation with an area of 506 square degrees that is bordered by Gemini to the west, Lynx to the north, Leo Minor to the northeast, Leo to the east, Hydra to the south, and Canis Minor to the southwest. The official

The Spaghetti Nebula. Simeis 147 (click the astronomical map above for an enlarged view), also known as the Spaghetti Nebula, SNR G180.0-01.7 or Sharpless 2-240, is a supernova remnant in the Milky Way, straddling the border between the constellations Auriga and  Taurus. Discovered in 1952 at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory using a 25-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, it is difficult to observe

The Camelopardalis Constellation. Camelopardalis or the Giraffe constellation is a large, faint grouping of stars in the northern sky. Taken apart, the word Camelopardalis means camel (Greek kamēlos) and leopard (pardalis). The giraffe was called the “camel-leopard” because it had a long neck like a camel and a body with spots, like a leopard. The constellation

Nearby Oldest Stars In Our Galaxy. Astronomers have discovered some of the oldest stars in our Milky Way galaxy by determining their locations and velocities, according to a study led by scientists at Georgia State University. Just like humans, stars have a life span: birth, youth, adulthood, senior and death.

The Caelum Constellation. Caelum is a faint constellation in the southern sky, introduced in the 1750s by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name means “chisel” in Latin, and it was formerly known as Caelum Scalptorium, “the engravers’ chisel” (bottom right in the diagram above). Caelum is bordered by Dorado and Pictor to the south, Horologium, and Eridanus to

The Bootes Constellation. Boötes is a constellation in the northern sky, located between 0° and +60° declination, and 13 and 16 hours of right ascension on the celestial sphere, covering 907 square degrees. It is best seen in June at 9.00pm between latitudes 90 and -50 degrees. One of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century

Astronomers Discover A Giant World. ‘When is a planet not a planet?’ is a lot more than the beginning of a poor joke at a drunken astronomers’ Christmas party. It is actually a serious question that cuts to the heart of our ignorance about how celestial objects form. The discovery

Zombie Star Ongoing Supernova. It’s the astronomical equivalent of a horror film adversary: a star that just wouldn’t stay dead. When most stars go supernova, they die in a single blast, but astronomers have found a star that survived not one, but five separate explosions. The “zombie” star kept erupting

The Auriga Constellation. Auriga is one of the 88 modern constellations; it was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. Located north of the celestial equator, its name is the Latin word for “charioteer.” In Greek mythology, Auriga is often identified as the mythological Greek hero Erichthonius of Athens, the chthonic son of Hephaestus who was raised by the goddess Athena. Erichthonius

The Aries Constellation. Aries Constellation is located in the northern celestial hemisphere between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. The name Aries is Latin for ram, representing a ram’s horns. It is one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is a mid-sized

Planet A Billion Years Younger Than The Big Bang Found. Messier 4 or M4, also designated NGC 6121, is a globular cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764. It was the first globular cluster in which individual stars were resolved. M4 is a rather loosely concentrated

The Universe Should Not Really Exist. Scientists just confirmed the problem at the centre of the Universe: it shouldn’t really exist at all. That’s because at the very beginning of existence, the equal amounts of matter and antimatter present should have annihilated each other, meaning you wouldn’t be reading this

The Ara Constellation. Ara is a southern constellation situated between Scorpius and Triangulum Australe. Ara was one of the 48 Greek constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. In ancient Greek mythology, Ara was identified as the altar where the gods first