火星与蜂巢星团

2023年6月10日

Mars and the Beehive
Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri

Explanation: This month, bright Mars and brilliant Venus are the prominent celestial beacons in planet Earth’s western skies after sunset. Wandering through the constellation Cancer the Crab, the Red Planet was captured here on the evening of June 3 near the stars of open cluster Messier 44. Recognized since antiquity this nearby, naked-eye star cluster is also known as the Praesepe or the Beehive cluster. A swarm of stars all much younger than the Sun, the Beehive cluster is a mere 600 light-years distant. Seen with a yellowish hue, Mars is about 17 light-minutes away. On June 12/13 Venus will take its turn posing next to the stars of the Beehive cluster. But the dazzling light of Venus will make the Beehive stars difficult to see by eye alone.

Tomorrow’s picture: the spectrum of the Sun

火星与蜂巢星团
影像提供与版权: Rolando Ligustri

说明: 在这个月日落后的西方天空中，明亮的火星及灿烂的金星是其中最醒目的天体。摄于6月3日晚上的这幅影像里，在巨蟹座里漫游的火星正好来到疏散星团M44的群星附近。亘古以来即为人们所知的这个邻近裸眼星团，亦名为鬼宿星团（Praesepe）或蜂巢星团。距离我们只有600光年远的蜂巢星团，其成员星皆远比太阳年轻。而带着淡黄晕光的火星，则大约距离我们17光分。在6月12/13日那晚，金星将接续来到蜂巢星团的群星之旁。不过，金星耀眼的光芒会让蜂巢星团很难用肉眼直接观赏。

明日的图片: the spectrum of the Sun