Page 59 of the February Sky and Telescope magazine mentions an "S" asterism located in Orion's belt that largely goes unnoticed. This sounded kind of cool so I went hunting for it on the evening of Jan. 16.
Here's the two northwestern belt stars the S winds through. It is really easy to
see the asterism in the eyepiece.
This is the S highlighted for those still having a hard time spotting it.
Both photos: Sony Cybershot DSC F-717, 40mm eyepiece, Orion Short Tube 80mm refractor
giving 10x magnification, 4 degree field, 30 second exposure w/camera settings f/2, tungsten
white balance.
Check out the S&T and go hunting for the S of Orion yourself with binos or your wide field scope!
Bill G.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
Nice, Bill. I didn't know about that one. Thanks for posting that.
Tom
Tom H
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence." - Louis Pasteur
That is cool, Bill. I'd never heard of it, either.
Bob M
15" f5 Starsplitter Dob/80mm Finder
5" Explore Scientific triplet APO on a Vixen Sphinx GEM
________
"He numbers all the stars, and calls each one by name." Ps 147:4
I've always been facinated by asterisms. When I was a young punk of 14 (c.1964), I would always mention them in my observing notes. I wouldn't call them asterisms though. They were "mini constellations" in the eyepiece of my 2.4" Scope refractor.
BG
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
You're right Dan! Should we contact S&T? I like the idea of an 8 better than an S. It's a lucky number!
Are you sure it's not a B? That would be nice for an egotistical lot like myself. I think I see a G also!
BG
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
