|
|
|
|
Springstone
Closer to the source
|
|
|
|
02.01.05 Winter nights - starry skies
Ah yes! The deep winter nights are something to look forward to in this location as it is the best time for stargazing in Britain, the colder clearer air sharpening up the sky wonderfully. If you can find a place without too much light pollution (here is excellent) take a pair of binoculars and have a go at the star cluster M45, also known as Pleiades or the 'seven sisters'. It may take some time but keep at it until you see it - it is well worth it.
If you can find the constellation of Orion you're nearly there; follow the line of his three belt stars to the right and you will come across a very small part of the sky resembling a smudge of light. When I was much younger I used to call it the fingerprint of god; more recently with a decent pair of binoculars and an avid interest in astronomy I have managed to study it in greater detail.
It is reasonably close, just 400 light years away, and consists of around 500 stars that are gravitationally bound to one another and the cluster contains much nebulosity. It is a relatively young formation, being only around 65 million years old, in other words it came into being about the same time the dinosaurs on earth became extinct (pause for thought).
With the naked eye only around seven points of light are visible within the smudge but through binoculars it becomes truly majestic. This 'cluster of dots' has been recorded in every ancient civilisation on earth, even cave paintings. Many modern cultures place great value and meaning on this formation but sadly, in the 'science rich' western civilisations it is largely ignored. Who knows, maybe it is the fingerprint of god after all?
|
|
|
