Tuesday October 8, 2024

Enif, The Nose of Pegasus (all night)

The bright star Enif, named from the Arabic phrase Al'anf, "the Nose", indeed marks the horse's muzzle. The orange-tinted star shines 20 degrees to the west of Markab, the southwestern corner of Pegasus' Great Square. Binoculars or any sized telescope will reveal a faint companion sitting 2.5 arc-minutes to
Enif's northwest. Enif is a low-temperature, orange supergiant star located
670 light-years away from the sun. It is nearing the last stages of its life cycle, and is just at the lower mass limit for expiring in a supernova explosion. The bright globular star cluster Messier 15 is located only 4 degrees northwest of Enif.


(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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* Origin: CJ's Place, Orange City FL > cjsplace.thruhere.net (21:2/156)