|
Translate this page into:
         
|
BOOTES
The Herdsman
Bootes - Alexander Jamieson - 1822
|
|
Translate this page into:
|
High in the western sky during late spring and early summer Bootes, the herdsman, drives his animals before him, towards greener pastures in the north. But this is no ordinary herdsman, and he does not tend the usual flock of sheep, or goats, or cattle. This herdsman is in charge of a truly celestial herd, consisting of two bears, (Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor), a dragon (Draco), and even a giraffe ( Camelopardalis), and with the help of his two dogs, Canes Venatici, he keeps them all moving through the night in a big circle around the North Star, Polaris.
Bootes is one of the oldest constellations in the sky. It is mentioned in Homer's 3000 year old Odyssey, and was recognized long before that, which is not surprising, considering that the role of herdsman is one of the most ancient of professions. The constellation is easily identified by the blazing golden orange star Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of 0.06. Arcturus means guardian of the bear, and it is only 37 light years away.
Bootes contains six stars known to support planetary systems, and one of these stars is easily visible to the naked eye. It is Tau Bootis, with a magnitude of 4.5, and only 49 light years away. Only one planet has been discovered so far orbiting this star, and it is almost four times larger than Jupiter.
The true treasures of this constellation are beyond naked eye visibility, and accessible only through large telescopes. But through the eyes of Hubble, and other large scopes, Bootes suddenly comes alive with amazing visions of far away galaxies. The first of these is NGC 5248, also known as Caldwell 45. It is a beautiful spiral galaxy about 60 million light years away, sporting long, extended spiral arms. With a magnitude of 10.97, it is a good target for a backyard scope.
Bootes also contains some of the most violent and visually spectacular events in the cosmos: colliding galaxies. The images below were all captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The colliding galaxies of Arp 302 are very far away, over 450 million light years from Earth.
|
|
|
|