Kitt Peak Nightly Observing Program

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1 Kitt Peak Nightly Observing Program Slendors of the Universe on YOUR Night! Many ictures are links to larger versions. Click here for the Best images of the OTOP Gallery and more information. Big Dier The Big Dier (also known as the Plough) is an asterism consisting of the seven brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major. Four define a "bowl" or "body" and three define a "handle" or "head". It is recognized as a distinct grouing in many cultures. The North Star (Polaris), the current northern ole star and the ti of the handle of the Little Dier, can be located by extending an imaginary line from Big Dier star Merak (β) through Dubhe (α). This makes it useful in celestial navigation. Leo Leo is a fairly well known constellation, because the lane of the Solar System runs through it. Such constellations are called Zodiac Constellations. Leo has some notable, bright stars, in it to boot. The brightest of these, Regulus is at the bottom of a series of stars arrayed in the form of a sickle, or a backwards question mark. This constellation does look more or less like the side rofile of a lion lying on the ground, with its head u.

2 M65 (in Leo Trilet) M65 is a siral galaxy about 35 million light years away. With a diameter of only 60,000 light years, It is smaller than the Milky Way. It is one of three galaxies in a small grou called the Leo Trilet. M66 (in Leo Trilet) M66 is a siral galaxy, and one of three galaxies in a trio of galaxies called the Leo Trilet. M66 is a stones throw (180,000 light years) from M65.

3 M104 (Sombrero Galaxy) M104: A siral galaxy like the Milky Way, nicknamed the "Sombrero Galaxy" because the lane of dust in the disk looks like the brim of such a hat. It is about 50,000 lightyears across and about 29 million lightyears away. NGC 3628 (in Leo Trilet) NGC 3628, also known as Sarah's Galaxy. Is an unbarred siral galaxy about 35 million light years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel in It has an aroximately 300,000 light years long tidal tail. NGC 3628 along with M65 and M66 form the famous Leo Trilet.

4 M13 Hercules Globular M13, the "Great Globular Cluster in Hercules" was first discovered by Edmund Halley in 1714, and later catalogued by Charles Messier in It contains 300,000 stars, and is 22,000 light years away. Light would need over a century to traverse its diameter. Meteors Quick streaks of light in the sky called meteors, shooting stars, or falling stars are not stars at all: they are small bits of rock or iron that heat u, glow, and vaorize uon entering the Earth's atmoshere. When the Earth encounters a clum of many of these articles, we see a meteor shower lasting hours or days. Satellites

5 Human technology! There are almost 500 of these in Low Earth Orbit (we can't see the higher ones). We see these little "moving stars" because they reflect sunlight. Scintillation The twinkling of star light is a beautiful effect of the Earth's atmoshere. As light asses through our atmoshere, its ath is deviated (refracted) multile times before reaching the ground. Stars that are near to the horizon will scintillate much more than stars high overhead since you are looking through more air (often the refracted light will dislay individual colors). In sace, stars would not twinkle at all. Astronomers would like it if they could control the effects of this troubling twinkle. Eclitic

6 The eclitic is a ath in the sky, forming a great circle around the Earth, which the Sun and other lanets of the Solar System move along. It is formed where the lane of the Solar System intersects with the Earth's sky. M44 The Beehive M44, the "Beehive Cluster," and also known as "Praesee," is a large, bright, diffuse oen star cluster containing about 400 stars. It lies fairly close, at a distance of under 600 light years. M57 (Ring Nebula)

7 M57: The Ring Nebula. This remnant of a dead star looks exactly as it's name says a ring or doughnut shae cloud of gas. The nebula is about 2.6 lightyears across and lies about 2,300 lightyears away. Juiter Juiter is the largest lanet in the Solar System, a gas giant 11 Earth diameters across. Its atmoshere contains the Great Red Sot, a long lived storm 2 3 times the size of the Earth. The 4 large Galilean satellites and at least 63 smaller moons orbit Juiter. Saturn

8 Saturn, the second largest lanet in the Solar System, is known for its showy but thin rings made of ice chunks as small as dust and as large as buildings. Its largest moon, Titan, has an atmoshere and hydrocarbon lakes; at least 61 smaller moons orbit Saturn. Algieba (γ Leo) Algieba (γ Leonis) is a binary star in the mane of Leo, the lion. These two goldenyellow giant stars are about 23 and 10 times the diameter of the Sun, and are about 130 light years away. Their orbital eriod is over 500 years. In 2009, a giant lanet was found orbiting one of these stars. Mizar & Alcor

9 In the handle of the Big Dier, Mizar & Alcor (ζ & 80 Ursae Majoris) or the Horse & Rider form a naked eye double star. They are traveling through sace together about 80 light years away from us, searated by about a light year. However, it is unknown if they are actually gravitationally bound to each other. A telescoe slits Mizar itself into two stars, but these both are again doubles, bringing the total in this system to six. The web age for the rogram in which you just articiated is at Nightly Observing Program. Most of the above images were taken as art of the Overnight Telescoe Observing Program. For more information on this unique exerience lease visit Overnight Telescoe Observing Program. Coyright 2017 Kitt Peak Visitor Center Commit