Columba the Dove
Columba the Dove
which represents the dove that followed Noah’s Ark, or some legends
say it was the dove that the Argonauts sent ahead to help them pass
safely through the clashing rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea.
If it was higher in the sky it would be quite easy to see. Columba
was added to the night sky by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in
1592.
Alpha or Phact which
means ‘Ring Dove’ is of magnitude 2.6 and is 260 light years
away. It is a B7 class star with a surface temperature of 12,500 ‘C
much hotter than the Sun.
Just below alpha and
to the left is beta or Wazn which means ‘Weight’. It is a K1
orange-hued giant star of magnitude 3.1, Wazn is 87 light-years from
Earth.
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