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The Great Diamond is an asterism. Astronomy popularizer Hans A. Rey called it the Virgin's Diamond. (In fact, long before mentioned in R. Hinckley-Allen's "Star-Names and Their Meanings", 1899, p.259, as "the celebrated Diamond of Virgo"; see also p.467). It is composed of the following stars:
* Cor Caroli (α CVn), in Canes Venatici
* Denebola (β Leo), the tail of Leo
* Spica (α Vir), the wheat of Virgo
* Arcturus (α Boo), the brightest star in
Four-Star Sight: The Celestial Diamond
(SPACE.com) 19 May 2006 06:16 am ET
MAP
(Space.com) *
Virgo's diamond
Asterisms (astronomy) Boötes Canes Venatici Coma Berenices Leo (constellation) Virgo (constellation)
The Great Diamond is an asterism. Astronomy popularizer Hans A. Rey called it the Virgin's Diamond. (In fact, long before mentioned in R. Hinckley-Allen's "Star-Names and Their Meanings", 1899, p.259, as "the celebrated Diamond of Virgo"; see also p.467). It is composed of the following stars:
* Cor Caroli (α CVn), in Canes Venatici
* Denebola (β Leo), the tail of Leo
* Spica (α Vir), the wheat of Virgo
* Arcturus (α Boo), the brightest star in Boötes
Boötes ( ) is a constellation in the northern sky, located between 0° and +60° declination, and 13 and 16 hours of right ascension on the celestial sphere. The name comes from la, Boōtēs, which comes from grc-gre, Βοώτης, Boṓtēs ...
The Great Diamond is larger than the Big Dipper. The three southernmost stars are sometimes regarded as being their own asterism, the Spring Triangle
The Spring Triangle is an astronomical asterism involving an imaginary triangle drawn upon the celestial sphere, with its defining vertices at Arcturus, Spica, and Regulus. This triangle connects the constellations of Boötes, Virgo, and Leo. ...
.
Lying within the Great Diamond is the set of stars traditionally assigned to Coma Berenices
Coma Berenices is an ancient asterism in the northern sky, which has been defined as one of the 88 modern constellations. It is in the direction of the fourth galactic quadrant, between Leo and Boötes, and it is visible in both hemisphere ...
. Many nearby galaxies
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...
, including galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, are within this asterism, and some of these galaxies can easily be observed with amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
s.
See also
* Winter Triangle *Summer Triangle
The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism in the northern celestial hemisphere. The defining vertices of this imaginary triangle are at Altair, Deneb, and Vega, each of which is the brightest star of its constellation ( Aquila, Cygnus, ...
* Winter Hexagon
The Winter Hexagon or Winter Circle/Oval is an asterism appearing to be in the form of a hexagon with vertices at Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, Procyon, and Sirius. It is mostly upon the Northern Hemisphere's celestial sphere. On most ...
External links
Four-Star Sight: The Celestial Diamond
(SPACE.com) 19 May 2006 06:16 am ET
MAP
(Space.com) *
Virgo's diamond
Asterisms (astronomy) Boötes Canes Venatici Coma Berenices Leo (constellation) Virgo (constellation)
References
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