Don't forget: you can click on an image to enlarge it!

Monday 16 August 2021

An exploding star in the southern sky!

It was just clear enough tonight (once the Moon had set!) to see the star RS-Ophiuchi. This is an unusual recurrent nova: it explodes into sudden brightness every 15 to 20 years. The reason appears to be that it 'sucks' hydrogen from its binary partner: once its mass has increased sufficiently, it flares up many times brighter and larger, before shrinking back to its original state. I could see the nova with the naked eye, but it was easier to locate with binoculars. While I was out, I had another look at Jupiter and its largest moons..




No comments: