Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Name That Constellation


Recommended Posts

I'm trying to figure out what constellation is depicted in this image. The only information I have aside from the image is that the yellow dot is a planet (not sure which) and that this is most likely how the constellation/planet appears in October-ish of 2018.

I assume the size of the stars is roughly representative of their distance.

I know. It's not much to go on. Hence needing help. Any astronomy wizzes have an educated guess on this?

Any help would be much appreciated. 

Cheers.

constellation.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Sunshine said:

I couldn’t match that group to any constellation, I could be wrong, it may just be a grouping of random stars and not necessarily a known constellation.

Hi Sunshine. Thanks for looking. When you say "I couldn't match it," do you mean off the top of your head? Or is there some kind of digital tool one can use to identify/match patterns to constellations?

(and if you can't already tell, I'm completely inept when it comes to astronomy, so try not to laugh at my noob questions lol)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, and welcome to SGL.

It depends on how accurate the above rendition is. Photograph? Drawing? Planets can be quite fast moving, but here is an image of where Mars was in roughly mid October (taken from Cartes du Ciel - another free planetarium software package). You've got the triangle, with a curve of stars to its right and a line of stars behind it. The other bright star isn't quite right - hence my comment about how accurate the above is. It would also depend what instrument was used to produce it as these can invert images Right/Left and/or Up/Down. Also the scale could be waaaay out. That said, this is part of Capricornus.

Image2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can narrow it down a bit.

Basically the planets will follow the ecliptic and around the ecliptic is a 20deg wide band called the zodiac.

The planets will nearly always be in or in between 12 major constellations.
If we are talking about October, Uranus was in Pisces, Neptune was in Aquarius, Mars was in Capricorn and Saturn in Sagittarius.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, stargazing1 said:

I assume the size of the stars is roughly representative of their distance.

If this is true, pattern matching would be very difficult. Stars are usually scaled by brightness, not distance, on star charts.

I tried to match the position of the planets and some minor planets in October to this image without convincing results. An idea of scale may help a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a shot from Starry Night showing Saturn. 
If the planet in your post is part of an asterism, it may reside  in this picture.
Not very likely, but Saturn won't have moved far in one month, and the planet
looks a little golden at low powers. I don't know the scale of your stars.
Where did the picture originate ?

 

Saturn Starry Night.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And whether the original picture is flipped and/or L/R corrected.  However that said, how about stars around triangulum and the few to the right of the triangle as viewed in the orientation I've presented it at below.  I've borrowed the pic from Wikipaedia and it says I have to reference by IAU and Sky and telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott)  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15412499:

starmap flipped.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Demonperformer said:

There aren't any planets in that area at the moment ...

Perhaps not, but given the vagueness of the rest of the rest of the question can we be sure that 'a planet' is correct?  It doesn't look any more planet like than any of the other splodges do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, JOC said:

It almost looks like the handle of the plough too.

When at school, I remember doing some kind of past exam question with a planet moving between two images - you had to circle the planet (the one that moved). I pointed out that there was a glaring error in the question being set, as it was moving through Ursa Major... ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, coatesg said:

When at school, I remember doing some kind of past exam question with a planet moving between two images - you had to circle the planet (the one that moved). I pointed out that there was a glaring error in the question being set, as it was moving through Ursa Major... ?

I suppose it could have been a minor planet ... 944 Hidalgo is (just) inside UMa at the moment ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.