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Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Antares, Luna & Venus

A lovely sight

*Was enjoying this triple cosmic combination last evening.    Luna was between Scorpius and Libra then; tonight it'll be "in" Scorpius.

Antares is my favorite star.  Of course it's Alpha Scorpii.  Some factoids:  It's 600 light years distant, 15 times more massive than Sol (if it could be placed over our Solar System with Sol in the center, Antares would cover the orbit of Mars) and 10,000 times brighter than Sol.  A red giant whom scientists think is about to explode.

Last evening it seemed the Scorpion was trying to grasp that glittering Diamond (Venus).  And the crescent Moon nearby ... and the black velvet night all around.  Ah, 'tis magic. 

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)