Friday, 31 July 2020

Astrognome A-Z of Constellatioins # 88 Vulpecula


Vulpecula the Fox
A faint constellation at the head of Cygnus the Swan. It originated with the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius who called it Vulpecula cum Anser, the Fox and Goose. Alas the Goose is now more, did the Fox get him?
In 1967 this diminutive constellation was the site of the astounding discovery of the first Pulsar by Jocelyn Bell Burnell using radio telescopes at the university of Cambridge .
Alpha magnitude 4.4 is a M1 red giant star with a temperature of 3,500’C degrees and is 297 light years away.
The famous Dumb Bell Nebula M27 is in Vulpecula but at magnitude 7.5 it requires at least binoculars to find it.



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