Dispatch from Flyover Country

To Capt. Kosher Salami

 Of the Starship BindleSnitch:

Star Date 2 Oct 2020.

Captain, I was inspired by your “Perspective” post on the planets and constellations that you discovered while walking your dog.  I was comparing my previous experience with the one you posted, and could not account for the discrepancies.  Then it occurred to me that we were looking in the same directions, but at different times.  

When I looked to the South at the time that your post mentioned, I clearly saw Saturn and Jupiter.  The night of October first was particularly clear at my coordinates, so my dog Miles had a good amount of unsupervised time while I stared up at the night sky, at two of our distant solar system neighbors.  At that time, of course, there was no sign of Venus to the East.  It was still below the horizon.  

Then, early this morning, 4:15, 2 Oct 2020, I looked to my favorite constellation, Orion.  This time I tried to capture a photo of it, as you did in your previous post.  The results are posted.  I was able to see Betelgeuse and Rigel.  Rigel is particularly fascinating.  It is a multiple star system, composed of at least 4 stars.  It is 860 light years away, and its surface temperature is 36,000 F compared to the Sun which is about 10,000 F.  Rigel’s intense heat is caused, by the friction in the region caused by the movement of material from one star to another within its 4 star system.  Its brightness is also 47,000 times greater than our Sun.

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