Bangalore: Every once in a while asteroids become visible to the naked eye. On Thursday midnight the asteroid Ceres will pass through the nebula (south of lagoon nebula) which is a rare event. Ceres will also be visible on the midnight of June 17. On June 18, it will be at its brightest. The lagoon nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation sagittarius. The lagoon nebula is one of the only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes under very dark skies. “Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloud-like patch with a definite core. A fragile star cluster appears superimposed on it. The lagoon nebula is estimated to be between 4,000 and 6,000 light years from the Earth,” says Akshay Kumar of Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers. “Right now very little is known about the asteroid Ceres. But it will gain global star status in February 2015, when Nasa’s Dawn spacecraft will take up orbit around Ceres and start imaging its unknown landscape,” says Kumar.
FACTS ABOUT CERES
Ceres was the first asteroid to be discovered. It was discovered on Jan. 1, 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi
It is named after the Roman goddess Ceres, the goddess of growing plants, harvest and motherly love
With a diameter of about 950 km, Ceres is by far the largest and most massive body in the asteroid belt and contains almost 32% of the belt’s total mass
Recent observations have revealed that it is spherical, unlike the irregular shapes of smaller bodies with lower gravity
HOW TO OBSERVE
Ceres just looks like any other star
Around midnight, in the south, you will find the bright red star Antares
Taking Antares as reference, follow the sky chart for the night
Sky chart can be found at heaven-above.com for your city
Here’s your chance to watch asteroid Ceres
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Bangalore: Every once in a while asteroids become visible to the naked eye. On Thursday midnight the asteroid Ceres will pass through the nebula (south of lagoon nebula) which is a rare event. Ceres will also be visible on the midnight of June 17. On June 18, it will be at its brightest.
The lagoon nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation sagittarius. The lagoon nebula is one of the only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes under very dark skies.
“Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloud-like patch with a definite core. A fragile star cluster appears superimposed on it. The lagoon nebula is estimated to be between 4,000 and 6,000 light years from the Earth,” says Akshay Kumar of Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers.
“Right now very little is known about the asteroid Ceres. But it will gain global star status in February 2015, when Nasa’s Dawn spacecraft will take up orbit around Ceres and start imaging its unknown landscape,” says Kumar.
FACTS ABOUT CERES
Ceres was the first asteroid to be discovered. It was discovered on Jan. 1, 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi
It is named after the Roman goddess Ceres, the goddess of growing plants, harvest and motherly love
With a diameter of about 950 km, Ceres is by far the largest and most massive body in the asteroid belt and contains almost 32% of the belt’s total mass
Recent observations have revealed that it is spherical, unlike the irregular shapes of smaller bodies with lower gravity
HOW TO OBSERVE
Ceres just looks like any other star
Around midnight, in the south, you will find the bright red star Antares
Taking Antares as reference, follow the sky chart for the night
Sky chart can be found at heaven-above.com for your city
It would be good to use a pair of binoculars