Page 20 - Ultimate Visual Dictionary (DK)

THE UNIVERSE

Stars of northern skies

L U P U S
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE NORTHERN SKY, you look away from the densely
populated Galactic center, so the northern sky generally appears less
Antares
bright than the southern sky (see pp. 20-21). Among the best-known
sights in the northern sky are the constellations Ursa Major S L I B R A
(the Great Bear) and Orion. Some ancient civilizations believed U P U T
that the stars were fixed to a celestial sphere surrounding the U R Zubenelgenubi
Earth, and modern maps of the sky are based on a similar A Zubeneschamali C A
idea. The North and South Poles of this imaginary N T N S
celestial sphere are directly above the North and South E
Poles of the Earth, at the points where the Earth’s axis C O R P E
of rotation intersects the sphere. The celestial North Spica R G E
Pole is at the center of the map shown here, and I S
V Arcturus Alphecca
Polaris (the North Star) lies very close to it. The
celestial equator marks a projection of the CORONA BOREALIS
Earth’s equator on the sphere. The ecliptic C O R V U S B O Ö T E S
marks the path of the Sun across the sky C O M A B E R EN I C E S
as the Earth orbits the Sun. The Moon and H Cor
planets move against the background of Y CANES Caroli U Alkaid
the stars because the stars are much more D E R Denebola V E N AT I C I R
distant; the nearest star outside the solar R C R A T S Alioth Kochab
system (Proxima Centauri) is more A L A U R
than 50,000 times farther away than A S E L E O M M I
N A S A
O
the planet Jupiter. Algieba J Dubhe N
N
X T A M I N O R O O
T
R
ORION L E Regulus R
Chi Orionis S
I
Chi 2 Orionis 1 V A Ecliptic
Nu Orionis E C A N C E R L
Xi Orionis L S Alphard Y N X
I Praesepe
Heka A X Equator Castor G G A
Y Ce lestial Pollux E Capella
Mu Orionis P R I
Bellatrix M
U
Betelgeuse M O Precyon I N I A
C A N I S
El Nath
N
Alhena
O
M i l k y
C M I N O R
Orion’s belt Gamma P W a y C E R Betelgeuse Aldebaran
Omicron Velorum U A O
Orionis N S N
O
P
Strius I
I S
Alnitak Orionis
P
Pi 2 I R
Wezen Mirzam
Orionis S Adhara M A J O R O
Pi 3
Rigel
Pi Orionis
4
Orionis
Pi 5
C L E P U S
Saiph Pi 6 Orionis
O
Mintaka L U M B A C A E L U M
Eta Orionis
Tau Orionis
Orion
VISIBLE STARS IN THE NORTHERN SKY
Nebula Rigel
Alnilam
18