Serpens the Serpent
An
ancient constellation representing a serpent wrapped around the
serpent bearer, Ophiuchus. In fact Serpens has come off much worse
with Ophiuchus because the constellation is split into two halves,
Serpent Caput the Head, and Serpens Cauda the tail. However although
a large constellation it is faint with no bright stars.
The
brightest star alpha or Unukalhai which means the ‘Serpents Neck’
has a magnitude of 2.6 and is a K2 giant with a temperature of
4,600’C lying 74 light years away.
Beta
has a magnitude of 3.7 and is 155 light years away. It is an A2 class
star with a temperature of 8,700’C.
M5 a globular cluster at magnitude 5.7
just visible to the naked eye.
M16
the famous Eagle Nebula with the Pillars of Creation which appears in
many photographs cannot be seen with the
naked eye.
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