Aquarius is a constellation within the Western Zodiac and one in every of 88 official constellations in response to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The constellation describes a big group of stars that historic Greek astronomers noticed as an image within the night sky. Aquarius was stated to characterize a “cup bearer” or “water bearer,” which is what its identify means in Latin.
Aquarius is among the oldest constellations documented within the historic document, first recorded within the second century by the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy.
Now, scientists and skywatchers look to Aquarius to search out Earth-like planets within the Trappist-1 system, and to catalog the celebs, meteor showers and different astronomical objects related to that area of the sky.
Associated: How many stars are in the universe?
Vicky Stein
Vicky Stein is a science author primarily based in California. She has a bachelor’s diploma in ecology and evolutionary biology from Dartmouth School and a graduate certificates in science writing from the College of California, Santa Cruz (2018)
The place is the Aquarius constellation?
Aquarius is the tenth largest constellation within the sky in response to astronomy author Ian Ridpath (opens in new tab). However there aren’t any significantly shiny stars within the constellation and it may be troublesome to view with the bare eye. Even so, it covers about 980 sq. levels and takes up greater than two % of the evening sky when seen.
Easy methods to spot Aquarius from the Northern Hemisphere:
Proper Ascension: 22.71 hours
Declination: -10.19 levels
Seen: Between 65 levels and -90 levels
Greatest considered: Throughout October at 9 p.m.
The constellation may be seen within the spring within the Southern Hemisphere and the autumn within the Northern Hemisphere.
Aquarius is positioned close to different water-related constellations: Cetus (the whale), Pisces (the fish), Delphinus (the dolphin) and Eridanus (the river). This space is sometimes called the water or sea part of the sky, in response to EarthSky (opens in new tab).
What stars make up Aquarius?
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The brightest star within the Aquarius constellation, in response to Star Facts, is a uncommon yellow supergiant often called beta Aquarii, also referred to as Sadalsuud. Whereas its mass is simply 5 occasions that of the sun, its quantity is near 50 occasions the sun’s quantity, in response to a 2017 paper from The Astronomical Journal (opens in new tab). The star has a magnitude of two.87, in response to a 1966 paper revealed within the journal Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (opens in new tab), which implies it seems comparatively dim in our sky. It’s almost 600 light-years from our sun.
Alpha Aquarii, or Sadalmelik, can be a yellow supergiant star, writes the astronomy website (opens in new tab) Star Details. It’s positioned round 520 light-years from the sun and has a magnitude of two.95.
Gamma Aquarii, or Sadachbia, has a magnitude of three.8 in response to Constellation Guide (opens in new tab). Zeta Aquarii is on the heart of the Y-shaped configuration that types Aquarius’ water jar. The opposite stars within the asterism forming the jar are gamma, phi and eta Aquarii. The “stream of water” pouring from the jar consists of greater than 20 stars, ending with the star Fomalhaut.
Aquarius observing targets
Aquarius contains a number of planetary nebulas. For the most effective view of those objects, we advocate utilizing binoculars or a telescope. Should you want gear, our best binoculars and best telescopes guides might assist.
In an effort to discover the planetary nebulae, it’s useful to know their magnitude, right ascension (RA) and declination (Dec).
Magnitude tells you ways shiny an object is because it seems from the Earth. The decrease the variety of an object’s magnitude, the brighter the thing. For instance, an object of a -1 magnitude is brighter than one with a magnitude of +2.
Proper ascension is to the sky what longitude is to the floor of the Earth, comparable to east and west instructions. It’s measured in hours, minutes and seconds.
Declination tells you ways excessive an object will rise within the sky. Like Earth’s latitude, declination measures north and south. Its models are levels, arcminutes and arcseconds. There are 60 arcmins in a level and 60 arcsecs in an arcmin.
Saturn Nebula
Saturn Nebula
Magnitude: +8.0
Approximate distance from Earth: 5,000 light-years
Location: 21h 04m 10.877s (right ascension), −11° 21′ 48.25″ (declination)
NGC 7009 is among the brightest planetary nebulae within the sky, and may be discovered within the Aquarius constellation. NGC 7009 is also referred to as the Saturn Nebula, for the cloud of dust and sizzling gasoline that blew out from a dying star and fashioned the approximate form of the planet Saturn. (Planetary nebulas have been so named as a result of early observers mistook them for planets, though they aren’t planets in any respect.)
Based on the ESO, the Saturn Nebula tells a narrative in regards to the lives and deaths of low mass stars to astronomers utilizing the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) software on the ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The Saturn Nebula was first noticed in 1782 by Sir William Herschel, a German-born British astronomer.
Helix Nebula
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Helix Nebula
Magnitude: +7.6
Approximate distance from Earth: 650 light-years
Location: 22h 29m 38.55s (right ascension), −20° 50′ 13.6″(declination)
Aquarius additionally boasts one of many closest of all planetary nebulae — NGC 7293, or the Helix Nebula — which is lower than 700 light-years from Earth. Like many planetary nebulae, the Helix Nebula emits waves throughout a broad swath of the spectrum, from ultraviolet to infrared, and seems related when considered in every wavelength. According to NASA, that’s one of the intriguing options of any such object.
What are scientists in search of in Aquarius?
Aquarius hosts the ultracool star TRAPPIST-1, which is simply 40 light-years from Earth (about 10 occasions the gap from our planet to the closest star system, Alpha Centauri.) In 2017, astronomers introduced that the star hosts not less than seven exoplanets, all Earth-sized worlds which can be seemingly additionally rocky. Many of those planets orbit within the liveable area of the star — the zone wherein water might probably exist on the planets’ surfaces.
Planets have been first found round this star utilizing Chile’s Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST), in 2010. Observe-up observations have been carried out with observatories such because the Very Massive Telescope (VLT) in Chile and NASA’s Spitzer Area Telescope, however astronomers say a extra detailed look might have to attend till NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can look at the system.
Associated: The 10 most Earth-like exoplanets
Aquarius mythology
In astrology, which isn’t a science, Aquarius is the eleventh signal within the Zodiac and represents these born between Jan. 20 and Feb. 18.
The Greeks linked this constellation with Ganymede, the cupbearer to the gods, or with Zeus pouring life-giving water on the Earth, wrote NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
As a result of the rising of Aquarius coincided with the wet season within the Northern Hemisphere, many different cultures additionally related these stars with water. For instance, wrote the observatory, Arabic astronomers recognized the identical constellation as a “well-bucket” and named lots of its stars to incorporate the phrase “luck,” probably as a result of seasonal rains have been thought of success. Chinese language, Indian, and Babylonian astronomers additionally constructed water-related myths round these stars.
Associated: What’s your zodiac sign? (It may not be what you think it is)
Extra sources
For an particularly kid-friendly rationalization of constellations, try NASA’s Space Place page (opens in new tab). Should you’re within the historical past of the Western Zodiac, learn this text from Time Magazine (opens in new tab). And for a e book on the constellations — and the science associated to the exploration of every one — take a dive into Constellations: the Story of Space Told Through the 88 Known Star Patterns in the Night Sky (opens in new tab) (Black Canine & Leventhal, 2019) by Govert Schilling.
Bibliography
Admin. (2021, January 25). Sadalsuud (Beta aquarii) — star details. https://www.star-facts.com/sadalsuud/ (opens in new tab)
Aquarius constellation: Stars, fable, details, location, deep sky objects — constellation information. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/aquarius-constellation/ (opens in new tab)
Aquarius constellation—Options and details. The Planets. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://theplanets.org/constellations/aquarius-constellation/ (opens in new tab)
Aquarius: The Water-Bearer. Chandra X-Ray Observatory; NASA. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/aquarius.html (opens in new tab)
Baines, E. Okay., Armstrong, J. T., Schmitt, H. R., Zavala, R. T., Benson, J. A., Hutter, D. J., Tycner, C., & Belle, G. T. van. (2017). Basic parameters of 87 stars from the navy precision optical interferometer. The Astronomical Journal, 155(1), 30. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa9d8b (opens in new tab)
Johnson, H. L., Mitchell, R. I., Iriarte, B., & Wisniewski, W. Z. (1966). Ubvrijkl photometry of the intense stars. Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, 4, 99–110. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1966CoLPL…4…99J (opens in new tab)
McLure, B. (2022, October 16). Meet Aquarius the Water Bearer and its Stars. EarthSky. https://earthsky.org/constellations/aquarius-heres-your-constellation/ (opens in new tab)
Ridpath, I. The Constellations. Ian Ridpath. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from http://www.ianridpath.com/constellations1.html (opens in new tab)
The Constellations. The Worldwide Astronomical Union; IAU. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/ (opens in new tab)
