astronomy Essays - Constellations, Lynx, Ursa Major, Lacerta

Encyclhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/352906/Lynxopedia (Ages 11 and up) Lynx - Student in astronomy, a large but obscure constellation in the mid-northern celestial latitudes between Ursa Major (the Big Bear), Auriga (the Charioteer), and Gemini (the Twins). It was first delineated in about 1687 by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, probably to account for stars left over from neighboring constellations, which he was mapping at the same time. The other constellations delineated by Hevelius are Canes Venatici, Lacerta, Leo Minor, Scutum, Sextans, and Vulpecula. The stars in Lynx are arranged in a broad stair-step pattern and are difficult to imagine as a wild cat, though some have suggested seeing the constellation as the undulant arc of the animal?s back as it prepares to spring on its prey. Hevelius is said to have remarked that an observer would need the eyes of a lynx to see the constellation, perhaps accounting for the name. Most of the stars in Lynx lie north of 41 N. celestial latitude and therefore, from the perspective of a viewer in the mid-northern lati tudes (for example, the latitudes at which are located Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Ind., and Boulder, Colo.), are circumpolar; that is, they never set. The constellation as a whole, however, is not considered one of the circumpolar constellations. It is most visible from January through May. To an observer at 41 N. latitude facing north at 10:00 PM, the constellation appears directly overhead at the end of February, just north of the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini. Although faint and unremarkable as a constellation, Lynx has a number of objects of interest. Many of its stars are telescopic doubles or triples; that is, double or triple stars that cannot be seen without a telescope. The brightest star in the constellation, Alpha Lyncis, is a third-magnitude red giant located about 165 light-years away from Earth. A curiosity in Lynx is an 11th-magnitude globular star cluster. Its New General Catalogue number is NGC 2419. It is located in the opposite di rection (with respect to the Milky Way) from most other globularscript src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/addyn/3.0/5308.1/1371312/0/170/ADTECH;target=_blank;grp=189;key=false;kvqsegs=D;kvsource=science;kvtopicid=352906;kvchannel=SCIENCE;misc=1307963782031">/script> clusters: though the observer usually looks in toward the center of the Milky Way to see globular clusters, to see NGC 2419 the viewer must look out, toward the fringes of the galaxy. At 210,000 light-years? distance, NGC 2419 is also the most distant globular cluster in the galaxy so far discovered using Earth-based telescopes. Because of its unusual position and great distance, some astronomers think it may turn out to be an intergalactic cluster and not part of the Milky Way at all, http://www.topastronomer.com/StarCharts/ConstellationViewer.aspx?ID=51 ________________________________________ Star Data Top-Astronomer ID5295 Bayer Right Ascension8h 13m 50.2s Declination+56? 27 8" Magnitude5.85 MK Spectral ClassG9III Flamsteed Henry Draper No. (HD)68077 Smithsonian No. (SAO)26732 Fifth Fundamental (FK5)2640 Lynx is a very faint constellation in the northern hemisphere. It was first charted by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. He created the constellation from the stars lying in the gap between Ursa Major and Auriga and named it after the lynx because it was so faint that it took someone with the eyesight of a lynx to spot it in the sky. It is uncertain whether or not he was also referring to Lynceus, a figure in Greek mythology who had the best eyesight in the world and was said to have been able to see things underground. The constellation Lynx occupies an area of 545 square degrees and contains five stars with known planets. It can be seen at latitudes between +90? and -55? and is best visible at 9 p.m. during the month of March. The brightest star in Lynx is [5250] alpha Lyncis, a magnitude 3 variable star approximately 220 light-years distant. It is also known by its Arabic names Elvashah or Alvashak and Al Fahd, both of which mean "the wild cat" or "the lynx." Two other notable stars in the constellation are [5251] 38 Lyncis and [5253] 31 Lyncis. [5251] 38 Lyncis is also known as Maculosa or Maculata ("the spotted one"). It is a magnitude 4 binary star lying 120 light-years away from Earth. [5253] 31 Lyncis is an orange giant approximately 390 light-years distant. It is also known as Alsciaukat ("the thorn") and Mabsuthat ("the outstretched" paw). Lynx contains a couple of