Galactic Center is in 26 degrees Sagittarius

I just learned that the Galactic Center is in  26 degrees, 45 minutes of the constellation Sagittarius.

What does this mean?

1. Almost all the planets of the solar system, including the sun and moon, travel in a very narrow part of the sky called the ecliptic.

2. The ecliptic forms a circle of 360 degrees–half of it is not visible because that half is on the other side of the earth. As the earth turns, you can see the whole ecliptic.

3. The ecliptic is divided into 12 sections of 30 degrees each.

4. These 30-degree sections are represented by different constellations which are star clusters that happen to be in the very narrow band of the sky called the ecliptic.

5. These constellations are the signs of the zodiac.

6. That 30-degree section of the sky where the Sagittarius constellation is located is also the area of the sky where the center of the Milky Way galaxy is.

7. In Sagittarius, 26 degrees and 45 minutes into the section, is specifically where the galactic center is located.

Carol Chapman

Southern Cross Astronomical Society

I’ve been talking about all the things I’ve learned about the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. This information came through my association with amateur astronomers at the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys.

If you’re interested in attending the Winter Star Party, you can learn more about it at the Southern Cross Astronomical Society (SCAS) web site. SCAS sponsors the event.

Most of the attendees bring a telescope, although the first year we attended, we went empty-handed to see if amateur astronomy appealed to us. Here’s a link to the SCAS site:

Southern Cross Astronomical Society

http://www.scas.org

Carol Chapman

2012 Prediction – Sagittarius is the Archer

Yes, I know that the constellation Sagittarius is supposed to be an image of an archer, specifically a mythological human/animal mixture with the head and torso of a man and the body of a horse.

However, if you join the dots of the stars, you’ll see that the main part of the Sagittarius constellation really does look like a teapot.

Go figure. Whoever originally named Sagittarius must have had a good imagination or a good reason to call it “The Archer.”

Take a look at this great photo by Jerry Lodrigus, which I also linked to in the previous post. Just hold your cursor over the picture to see the image made by the stars in Sagittarius.

There is more to the constellation than the teapot, but the easy way to find Sagittarius in the sky is by looking for the teapot.

I guess the rest of the constellation are the legs of the horse and the archer’s arm and bow and arrow or something like that. It sure looks like a teapot with decorative ribbons attached to me.

2012 Prediction – Sagittarius Constellation

A great photo of Sagittarius and the Milky Way.

In this photo, you only have to hold your cursor over the image, and the dots will join themselves to form the teapot image. In this image, the teapot spout is facing the right.

In my previous post, “Prediction 2012 – Sagittarius Looks Like a Teaput,” the teapot spout is facing the left.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 17, Yucatan & 2012

I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be speaking on “The Yucatan and 2012” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Saturday, May 17, 2008.

Carol

Prediction 2012 – Sagittarius Looks Like a Teapot

I’ve been looking for a picture of the constellation Sagittarius since it is located in the sky at the place where the Milky Way Center is. Once you know what Sagittarius looks like, you can find it in the sky. When you’re looking at Sagittarius, you’re looking at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way.

Sagittarius is one of the cutest constellations because it can be identified by a grouping of stars that look like a teapot.

In this nighttime photograph of the the Hale 200-inch Telescope at Palomar Observatory, northeast of San Diego, California, you can see “the teapot” above and to the right of the domed telescope.

Just “join the dots” of the stars and you’ll see that they make a teapot. It is tilted upward and to the left. The “spout” is facing the left. The “handle” is on the right. The “teapot lid” looks like a triangle.

Prediction 2012 – A Great Site on BLACK HOLES

Here’s a great site on Black Holes.

Since we’ve been talking so much about the Black Hole at the Galactic Center, I thought you’d like to read up a bit on Black Holes.

This is a Hubble Space Telescope site. It has an animated Journey to a Black Hole and a Black Hole Encyclopedia.

Prediction 2012 – Life at the Milky Way’s Center

While waiting for clouds to clear during a night of sky observing during this year’s Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys, we got into a discussion about the Milky Way’s galactic center.

Here on earth, we live in a part of the Milky Way which is not very dense with stars. We’re near the end of one of our galaxy’s spiral arms in an area of few stars and a lot of stellar dust. Therefore, our skies look mainly dark with pin-pricks of stars.

However, if we lived on a planet in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, where it is crowded with stars, our night skies would be as brilliant as our day skies.

Here’s a link to a picture of the many stars in the Milky Way Center.

Prediction 2012 – Milky Way Center Black Hole Photo

Another amazing photo of the Center of the Milky Way.

This photo shows the location of the Black Hole at our galaxy’s center.

The previous post showed a close up of the Black Hole location.

This photo shows a longer view of the Black Hole location in the Milky Way’s Center.

A very dynamic picture!!!

Prediction 2012- BLACK HOLE at Milky Way Center

OK, in an earlier post I said that the Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way galaxy is just a theory, according to some astronomers.

Well, it isn’t a theory to some other astronomers. They’ve taken a picture of it. OK, you can’t really take a picture of a Black Hole since even light is swallowed by its intense gravity. That’s why it’s called a “Black” Hole.

They can only take a picture of the area the Black Hole is in. Here’s a picture of the center of the Milky Way. The arrow shows the location of the Black Hole.

The photo was taken at the La Silla Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile, which is in South America.

This is an amazing picture!!!