The Art of Life

Polaris & The Engagement ring asterism.
Vespera 2, 7 minutes integration

Delta Ophiuchi - Yed Prior
Epsilon Ophiuchi - Yed Posterior

Delta Ophiuchi, at magnitude 2.74, is Ophiuchus’s fourth brightest star; it is one of the two stars that represent the left hand of the Serpent Bearer. δ Oph has the traditional name Yed Prior; ε Oph, with which it forms a naked eye optical double, is Yed Posterior. Yed Prior and Yed Posterior are compound names, formed from the Arabic “al-yad”, meaning “hand”, with the Latin words Prior and Posterior added to give names meaning the “leading” and “following” part of the hand. Yed Prior is the western of the two, and leads Yed Posterior across the sky as the Earth rotates.

The two stars are unrelated; Yed Prior lies at a distance of 170 light years, while Yed Posterior is much closer at 107 light years. Yed Prior is a cool class M0.5 III giant, with a surface temperature of only 3800 K. Including infrared radiation, Yed Posterior’s luminosity is 630 times the Sun’s, giving it a radius 58 times solar. Its measured angular diameter (0.0095”) gives about the same result. If placed at the center of our Solar System, the star would extend two-thirds of the way to Mercury.

Wave of the day…

Arcturus & Napoleon’s Hat 🤩

Strawberry Moon, 99,76%

My favorite planetary nebula, 🤩

DISCOVERY: George Abell, 1955
APPARENT MAGNITUDE: 13.7
DISTANCE: 6600 LY
Apparent size: 2.6’
Real size: 2 LY

Observation data
RIGHT ASCENSION: 16h 27m 34S
DECLINATION: 27° 54’ 33

About 5h30 integration, 2009x10 sec, Vespera 2, processed with PixInsight, Graxpert & PSE

Abell 39 (PN A66 39) is a low surface brightness planetary nebula in the constellation of Hercules.
It is estimated to be about 3,800 light-years from earth and thus 2,600 light-years above the Galactic plane

It is almost perfectly spherical and also one of the largest known spheres with a radius of about 1.4 light-years.

The central star is classified as a subdwarf O star with surface temperature of 8900 K.

Abell 39 has been expanding for an estimated 11,000 years, based on an assumed expansion velocity between 32 and 37 km/s and a 0.4 parsec radius.
Background galaxies are visible near the nebula, and some can be seen through it.
Oxygen is only about half as abundant in the nebula as it is in our own sun.

Amazing colours over the Atlantic 🤩

The wave.

[ 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲 | 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲́ : 𝗟𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗱𝗲 𝗝𝘂𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲 ]

Le magazine municipal vient de sortir son tout nouveau numéro de Juin 🤩

Consultez en ligne Le Kiosque de Juin dès à présent sur notre site internet : https://www.ville-grasse.fr/actualites/le-kiosque-numero-de-juin-2025/

Un nouveau numéro qui annonce une saison estivale à Grasse bien festive !
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Double mirage, Etruscan vase & green flash

Chais 🤩🤩🤩