The M.A.S. Newsletter
Journal of the Mauritius Astronomical Society
March 98
Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Friday 27th of March 1998 at 7hr30 pm at the St Esprit College, Quatre Bornes.
ACTIVITY:
General observation night.
Orion the hunter:
Orion is one of Ptolemy's original constellations. According to Greek mythology, Orion was the hunter who boasted that he could kill any creature on the earth. The goddess Hera, sent a scorpion which killed him. It is said that to prevent Orion meeting the scorpion again, these two constellations were placed on opposite sides of the sky so that when Orion is setting, Scorpius is rising. According to another legend, Eõs became enamored of Orion. The gods, jealous of her love, commended the goddess Artemis to slay him with her arrows. For most astronomers though, Orion remains one of the most conspicuous constellations in the celestial vault.
Objects in the Orion region:
The 'middle star' of the sword of Orion is the well known M42 or Great Orion Nebula in which stars are being born. Just south of the easternmost star of the belt (Alnitak) is the 'horsehead nebula', which eludes direct observation. The horsehead nebula is visible only in photographs of the region. So are the nebulae lying in the nearby constellation of Monoceros. These are the 'Rosette' and 'Cone' nebulae each highlighted by an open cluster. At the foot of Orion starts the longest constellation in the sky: Eridanus. In this constellation lies the first identified white dwarf in the triple star system O2 (omicron 2) which can be observed through small telescopes. This system is moving very rapidly against the starry background at 4.08" per year. To the south-east rises the constellation of the crux and centaurus.
Double stars:
Quite a few binary systems are visible in the sky this month. These are Castor, Rigel, z Cancri, a Hydrae, g Virginis, a Leonis, g Leonis and many more...
Serge Florens, Secretary