The constellation Aquarius’ right ascension is 23 hours, and its declination is -15 degrees. It is visible in the night sky between latitudes 65 and -90 degrees. It is best seen in October at 9:00 PM. Aquarius is known as the water bearer. It is normally depicted as a man letting water fall out of a pot. Aquarius was named by the Sumerians after their god of heaven An, who pours the waters of immortality upon the earth. Many of the stars in Aquarius have mean good luck. It is thought that this is because in ancient times the constellation's solstitial rising occurred at the start of the rainy season and seemed to bring relief to the arid climes of the Middle East. The main stars in Aquarius are Albali, Sadalsuud, Sadalmelik, Sadalachbia, Ancha, Situla, and Skat.
| Stars | RA | Declination | Apparent Mag | Spectral Class | Absolute Mag | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albali | 21h 31m 33.5s | –9°29'44.8" | 3.77 | A1V | -0.4662657 | 70.3 |
| Sadalsuud | 21h 31m 33.5s | –5°34'16.2" | 2.89 | G0Ib | -3.476364 | 187.6 |
| Sadalmelik | s22h 5m 47s | –0°19'11.5" | 2.94 | G2Ib | -3.8926577 | 232.6 |
| Ancha | 22h 16m 50s | –7°46'59.8" | 4.17 | G9III | 0.32734795 | 58.7 |
| Sadalachbia | 22h 21m 39.4s | –1°23'14.4" | 3.85 | A0V | 0.42670238 | 48.4 |
| Situla | 22h 37m 45.4s | –4°13'41" | 5.03 | K1 | 0.74819618 | 71.8 |
| Skat | 22h 37m 45.4s | –15°49'15" | 3.27 | A3V | -0.1775955 | 48.9 |
One interesting feature in the Aquarius constellation is the globular cluster M2. Messier 2 is noted for its somewhat elliptical shape. This is hinted at in the picture. M2’s stars are also very closely compacted. It is classified as class II (when class I is extremely compressed).
| M2 Globular Cluster | |
|---|---|
| RA | 21: 33.5 (h:m) |
| Declination | -00 : 49 (deg:m) |
| Distaance | 37.5 (kly) |
| Visual Brightness | 6.5 (mag) |
| Apparent Dimension | 16.0 (arc min) |
| Approximate number of stars | 150,000 |
| Estimated Age | 13 billion years |
| Diameter | 175 light-years |
Aquarius Dwarf is a galaxy that is found in the Aquarius constellation. Its Right ascentions and declination are 20: 46.8, and -12 : 51 respectively. This galaxy is classified as Im V. It has an apparent magnitude of +13.9. Its apparent dimensions are (V) 2.3 × 1.2 arcmins. This galaxy is interesting because it has a blue shift. This means that it is moving towards the Milky Way. It is coming us at 137 km/s. Another interesting tidbit is that scientists are disputing whether it belongs in the Local Group or not.
The Saturn Nebula (NGC 7009) is an extremely bright planetary nebula. In fact, it is one of the brightest that can be seen in the sky. It was named the Saturn Nebula because it has a disk and its shape resembles the planet Saturn. NGC 7009’s right ascension and declination are 21 : 04.2 and 21 : 04.2 respectively.
Sadalmelik is a supergiant star. Its name means "the lucky stars of the king or kingdom." (Maybe we should wish upon this star for better luck!) This star is yellow like our sun. However it has a luminosity 3000 times that of the sun, and is about 60 times in diameter.
| Stars | RA | Declination | Apparent Mag | Spectral Class | Absolute Mag | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sadalmelik | s22h 5m 47s | –0°19'11.5" | 2.94 | G2Ib | -3.8926577 | 232.6 |
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Aquarius.html
This site helped me find the information in the overview about the Right Ascension, Declination, visibility, and best seen in October (at 9:00 PM).
https://sites.google.com/a/starshine.com/starshine/Home/Astronomy-Home/The-Constellations
This site helped give the general information found in the overview. It was mainly how the constellation was named, and what it looks like.
http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m002.html
This site was helpful in finding information about my globular cluster. It gave me most of the data that was required for the star clusters.
http://www.utahskies.org/deepsky/constellations/aquariusMain.html
This website first gave me the name of the cluster, and the idea of using it for one of my features. This also gave me the interesting facts about the cluster.
http://seds.org/~spider/spider/LG/aqr_dw.html
This site gave me information on Aquarius Dwarf. It was mostly the interesting fact that I got from this site.
http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Aquarius-Dwarf
This is an online encyclopedia. This site gave me that data needed for my galaxy.
http://www.nightskyinfo.com/constellations/aquarius/
This site gave me the information and picture on my nebula.
http://www.maa.clell.de/Messier/E/Xtra/NGC/n7009.html
This site gave me the data for my nebula.
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/Sadalmelik.html
This site gave me the interesting facts about my star.