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What's in the sky tonight?
November 23, 2012

-Some pre-telescopic astronomy: Sometime between 6:30 and 8:30 this evening, depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone, bright Vega sinking in the northwest and bright Capella climbing in the northeast (well left of brighter Jupiter) will be at exactly the same height. How accurately can you time this event for your location? An astrolabe would help.

-Altair is the brightest star in the west-southwest. (It's far lower left of brighter Vega.) Look above Altair, and perhaps a bit left, for the dim but distinctive little constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin.

Astro Picture of the Day:
November 23, 2012

Source:
East of Antares, dark markings sprawl through crowded star fields toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Cataloged in the early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard, the obscuring interstellar dust clouds include B59, B72, B77 and B78, seen in silhouette against the starry background. Here, their combined shape suggests a pipe stem and bowl, and so the dark nebula's popular name is the Pipe Nebula. The deep and expansive view was represents nearly 24 hours of exposure time recorded in very dark skies of the Chilean Atacama desert. It covers a full 10 by 10 degree field in the pronounceable constellation Ophiuchus. The Pipe Nebula is part of the Ophiuchus dark cloud complex located at a distance of about 450 light-years. Dense cores of gas and dust within the Pipe Nebula are collapsing to form stars.