Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Beatles to be beamed across the universe

Can't keep this from you. Today's edition of London-based daily the Guardian reports that the well-known Beatles song, Across the Universe, will be literally beamed across the universe, and in 431 years the song should reach famous star Polaris.

Here is the article:

Beatles to be beamed across the universe

And here is the song:

YouTube - The Beatles, Across the Universe

And here is the star:



Ann

ha that's pretty cool!

I heard about this on the radio the other day. I think this is AWESOME because I'm a huge Beatlemaniac and that song is basically my mantra.

Sorry this is a little off topic but that pic got me thinking...

Ann, your the astronomy/astrology (sorry, don't know the difference) guru. Can you tell me, those three stars that are inside of the big dipper; Is that Orion's belt? My husband and I are always arguing over where the big dipper is. I can find the little dipper and I see Orion's belt (or what I thought was Orion's belt) but the big dipper eludes me...

The Big Dipper and Orion are the two of the most famous constellations in the sky (or, in the Big Dipper's case, a part of a constellation, Ursa Major, the Big Bear - never mind).

Both are easy to spot, if you live in the Northern hemisphere (north of the equator - say, in the United States or Europe). The Big Dipper can't be seen south of the equator. Orion can be spotted all over the world, but in the far north and far south, it can only be spotted during certain parts of the year.

Now is a great time to see both the Big Dipper and Orion, if you live in the United States or Europe! Here in Sweden, Orion rises in the east slightly before the sun sets around 4.50 pm now in early February. It then moves from the east to the west across the sky, just like the Sun does. It is highest in the sky around nine in the evening, when its position is due south in the sky. That, too, is just like the Sun. The Sun is highest in the sky at midday, when it is in the south of the sky. Orion then sets in the west in the small hours of the morning, and at four am you can't see it any more here in Sweden.

But go outside now in February and look south around eight or nine o'clock in the evening! (Remember that Orion will rise and set earlier and earlier this month.) You should see something looking like this:



Can you see the three bright stars in the middle? You can draw an almost perfectly straight line through them. Nowhere else in the sky can you find three bright stars in such a perfectly straight line. These three stars, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, are called the belt stars or Orion - they make up Orion's Belt).

Note that underneath Orion's Belt, you can see a fainter row of lights "hanging down" from Orion's Belt. The lights are called Orion's Sword. The middle light is not a star at all, but a glowing gas cloud, a so-called nebula. In the picture above, the middle light of Orion's sword, the nebula, looks pink. It doesn't look pink to the naked eye, but you should definitely be able to see that it looks fuzzy. Compare it with the sharply brilliant star just below the nebula, and you can easily spot the difference between the fuzziness of the nebula and the sharpness of the star.

Here is another picture of Orion. It was taken during a clear night, and it reveals a myriad of stars. Don't expect to see nearly as many stars yourself, unless you live somewhere where the air is very clear and it's very dark at night. Note Orion's Belt and Orion's Sword, where the nebula looks very pink and extended:



The Big Dipper is another kind of constellation entirely. First of all it is very big! (Well, Orion is big too, but Orion's Belt is not that big.) And you always find the Big Dipper by looking north. Here in Sweden, the Big Dipper never sinks below the horizon. As soon as it gets dark you can spot it, looking north, provided the night is clear, of course. This is what the Big Dipper looks like:



Well, that was a drawing, but here is an actual photo of the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. The Big Dipper is at the bottom left, whereas the Little Dipper is at the top right of the picture:



There are halos around the bright stars in this picture, which makes the outlines of the Big and Little Dippers easier to spot. Don't expect halos around the stars in real life, unless the night is misty. But the stars are relatively bright, and the shapes of the Big and Little Dippers - particularly of the Big Dipper - are unmistakable. You should have no trouble spotting them. Note, though that the Big Dipper actually seems to turn slowly around the North Celestial Pole (the point of the sky which is directly above the North Pole) so the Big Dipper may be oriented differently than it is in this picture! It might even be "upside down"!



Hope you can find these constellations now! Happy hunting!

Ann

Awesome!!! Thanks for that info Ann! I've always loved all the stars at night (although sometimes they're hard to see cause I live in the Houston, Tx suburbs). I'm gonna check that out tonight and see if I kind find Orion & the big dipper.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

You're welcome! Hope you could find your stars!

Ann

I found Orion's belt/sword & the Big dipper last night. It was a little too hazy to see the little dipper. At least I think that's why I could't see it cause usually I have no problem finding that one... Thanks for all the info! I feel smart now!

It's not at all strange that you couldn't spot the Little Dipper. The stars there are for the most part fainter than the stars of the Big Dipper. In the Big Dipper, all the stars but one are of the second magnitude, which is pretty bright, and usually visible even from light-polluted areas. In the Little Dipper, however, only two stars out of seven are second magnitude, while the rest are third, fourth or fifth magnitude. That is pretty faint, and that makes it hard to spot the outline of the Little Dipper.

You should, however, be able to spot Polaris, which is second magnitude. Not only that, but Polaris is surely the most famous star in the heavens. It is the Pole Star, the North Star, situated almost directly over the Earth's north pole. When Columbus and other explorers sailed across the oceans to discover new land and new continents, they used Polaris to navigate. For example, as long as Columbus made sure that he had Polaris on his right at all times, then he knew that he was sailing due west. And like I said, Polaris is easy to spot. Two of the stars in the Big Dipper are called "pointers", because they point directly at Polaris. Look at the picture in the first post of this thread, and then you'll know how to find Polaris!

Ann