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| Southern Constellations with Star Canopus Credit: Astronomy club Toutatis/S.Lamoureux (Click on picture to enlarge) |
Cambodia lies at 11 degrees latitude above the Equator (Phnom Penh 11°33′N 104°55′E). This means that southern Constellations are seen from here. While staying on the island of Koh Rong near the coast of Sihanoukville, I took some pictures of the night sky that revealed some southern Constellations. Guided by the brightest star in the night sky Sirius, I knew that all lying below it would be southern stars and Constellations. A great opportunity for me to shoot southern Constellations.
The picture above shows us many
southern Constellations. Namely the Constellations of Vela, Puppis, Carina,
Pyxis, Columba and Pictor. I have to say it was the first time I saw all these
Constellations and stars within. For a northern observer, this was a delight!
Also one star took over the
others and shown brightly in the night sky. This star was Canopus (α Car), the second brightest star in the night sky after
Sirius. Canopus's
visual
magnitude is −0.72. This F-type supergiant have been
described as a pure white while seen with the naked eye, but some observers
have perceived it as yellow-white owing to its being located low in the sky and
hence subject to atmospheric effects. Canopus
is known in the ancient Hindu astronomy and astrology as Agastya. Maybe some clues of this lies in the temples of
Angkor Wat as the Hindu astronomy was incorporated into the building of the
temples.
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| The same picture as above except for the Constellation lines Credit: Astronomy club Toutatis/S.Lamoureux (Click on picture to enlarge) |
The Constellations of Carina,
Vela, Puppis and Pyxis where part the same Constellation of Argo Navis before Nicolas-Louis
La Caille in 1750 divided it into 4 respective Constellations. These Constellations,
especially the Carina and Vela Constellations are in the middle of the Milky
Way, which offers many beautiful Open Star Clusters and Nebulas. One of them is
Eta Carinae Nebula (NGC 3372) in the Constellation of Carina.
The Constellation Pyxis lies in the plane of the Milky Way,
although part of the eastern edge is dark, with material obscuring our galaxy
arm you can still see some good objects.
You will find an almost edge-on spiral Galaxy (NGC 2613), a
planetary nebula (NGC 2818) which lies within a dim open cluster of magnitude
8.2 and three stars with confirmed planetary systems (HD 73256, HD 73267 and
Gliese 317).
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| Stargazing on paradise island Koh Rong Credit: Astronomy club Toutatis/S.Lamoureux (Click on picture to enlarge) |
The Constellations of Columba and Pictor are small and faint
constellations. They are not particularly of great interest, except for a
couple of objects that distinguish them selves from the others. Kapteyn's Star
in the Constellation of Pictor, a nearby red dwarf at the distance of 12.78
light years, has a magnitude of 8.8. It has the largest proper motion of any
star in the sky after Barnard's Star. Moving around the Milky Way in the
opposite direction to most other stars, it may have originated in a dwarf
galaxy that was merged into our galaxy, with the main remnant being the Omega
Centauri globular cluster.
Also the Constellation Pictor
has attracted attention in recent years because of its second-brightest star Beta
Pictoris, 63.4 light-years distant, which is surrounded by an unusual dust disk
rich in carbon, as well as an extrasolar planet.
Columba is the constellation that is at the solar antapex -
the Earth (and Sun) is moving away from its direction as the solar system moves
through space.
Continue reading post no.5 Cambodia 2014: Chasing the Green Flash. Catch on film the lastmoments of the setting Sun.
About Astronomy Club Toutatis
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