Tonight I was out looking for the comet Holmes and I noticed an unusually bright "star" near the moon. It's a yellowish color and right about the area where I Gem (???) would be - the linked hands in Gemini. Is this a planet, or could I possibly be seeing the star magnified by the moon by the lensing effect (I forget the proper term).
By the way, I'm pretty sure I found the comet, but this other object is much more interesting.
If it matters, I'm in northern California about 100 miles north of the Bay Area.
2007-10-30 20:54:27 · 2 answers · asked by Justin H 7 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I don't think it's Canis Minor. Looking at a star map, Canis Minor looks like it would be roughly on the same plane as the shoulders of Orion. For the object I'm talking about, draw a line starting at the lower right star of Orion and going through the star on the left shoulder and then go up a distance approximately equal to the distance between those two stars. Looking again at the star map, it might be closer to Epsilon Gem.
2007-10-30 21:13:24 · update #1
Thanks ant: I found a map showing the position of Mars and it puts it exactly where I'm describing.
2007-10-30 21:20:48 · update #2
It is Mars.
2007-10-30 21:13:05 · answer #1 · answered by an 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Sounds to me like your describing Canis Minor. Sorry the star that links the twins together is the star designated by the greek symbol Iota, a fairly nondescript star. Can you be more specific?
2007-10-30 21:05:18 · answer #2 · answered by kimberleyelizabeth 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋