Alice 02/02/2024 (Fri) 00:08 No.3148 del
(337.51 KB 2000x1600 Orion.jpg)
(337.80 KB 1600x2000 Canopus.jpg)
(207.03 KB 2000x1600 Orion _belt.jpg)
>>3144
We're further south but still above the equator. Can't tell you exactly what we're doing, it's not overly spectacular.

We don't have great nature photos 4u yet but have some stars, specifically Orion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)

In the first pic we see Orion in the lower middle with its nebula as the brightest spot. The two bright stars on the left side are Procyon on top and Sirius (the brightest star in the sky) in the lower left corner- The bright star in the middle right is Aldebaran.

The 2nd pic is the same but towards the south. The bright star on the lower edge is Canopus, the 2nd brightest star in the sky. It is invisible from Europe. Mr. Bear should bearly be far enough south to see it (can you?), Tamamo ofc but Kashtan and me can never see this star from home, it doesn't rise above the horizon further north than Gibraltar or San Francisco. The Greek astronomer Posidonius observed that Canopus just grazed the horizon in his home island Rhodes while it rose several degrees above the horizon in Alexandria, Egypt. From this he managed to calculate the earth's circumference with high precision around 100 BC but many argue it was just a lucky guess.

The 3rd image is a close-up of Orion's belt with the famous 3 stars Alnitak. Alnilam and Mintaka. The even more famous Orion nebula M42 is the bright spot below them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula

In the upper right corner is Orion's left shoulder Bellatrix, the bright star in the lower left corner is Orion's right foot, Saiph. Unfortunately the two brightest of Orion's stars Betelgeuse and Rigel are just outside the frame.

There, you learned something again!