Composer Andrey Klimkovsky. BLOG

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Andrey Klimkovsky is a Russian composer working in the electronic music space. Musical images he created — «Music of Celestial Spheres», «Starry Sky», «ALEALA» and «DreamOcean» have become classics of the genre, gaining fame both in Russia and abroad. The musician regularly gives spectacular live concerts and collaborates with many other representatives of the Russian electronic scene, leads a popular community about synthesizers and workstations, participates in astronomical expeditions and practices a healthy lifestyle.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Night from October 13 to 14, 2022. The Moon is near the Hyades cluster and the star Aldebaran

Night from October 13 to October 14, 2022. The Moon is near the Hyades cluster and the star Aldebaran. Astronomical review by Andrey Klimkovsky

The Moon continues to move through the constellation of Taurus, and will rise this evening not far from the open star cluster Hyades and the orange star Aldebaran, which heads this constellation.

In different locations on our planet, the visibility of the Moon's approach to the Hyades and Aldebaran will vary slightly. In Eastern Europe, moonrise will find the Moon exactly halfway between the Pleiades and the Hyades. Here, the Moon will gradually approach the Hyades and Aldebaran during the night, reaching its closest approach (8 degrees north — it's still far — not as close as the Moon approached the Pleiades last night) only at dawn.

In Western Europe, the Moon will rise being noticeably closer to the Hyades than to the Pleiades and very close to the stars υ (upsilon) and κ (kappa) of Taurus, which are located at some distance from the main group of stars of the Hyades cluster, but physically belong to the cluster. The nearest approach of the Moon to Aldebaran and the Hyades will happen here around midnight.

In North America, the Moon will rise already having passed the closest approach to all the mentioned stars.

In Europe, the approach to a pair of stars υ (upsilon) and κ (kappa) of Taurus will be quite close — less than 1/2 degree, but their coverage by the Moon will not happen anywhere on the planet.

I devoted the previous article entirely to the most beautiful open star cluster of the entire sky — the Pleiades. In this review, I will talk a little about the Hyades.

The Hyades are less catchy, more rarefied, scattered, and do not represent the amazing sight that the Pleiades are. But along with this, the Hyades are generally brighter and occupy a much larger place on the celestial sphere. They are three times closer than the Pleiades — 150 light-years away from the Hyades. And in outer space, the cluster occupies a space about 30 light-years across, in which astronomers have identified about 700 stars belonging to the cluster.

Hyades is an old cluster — its age is estimated at 650 million years, and it is assumed that in 30 million years the cluster will finally disintegrate. It would not be a mistake to say that right now we are seeing the process of this disintegration.

The brightest star in the Taurus constellation, Aldebaran, although projected onto the cluster, does not physically belong to it. Aldebaran is 2.5 times closer — only 65 light years away.

At the end of the review, I will remind you, my readers, that in the evening the planet Saturn is still very clearly visible — in the constellation Capricorn. Jupiter shines brightly throughout the night in the constellation Pisces. In the constellation Taurus, east of Aldebaran and the Moon, Mars is very bright and distinctly red. And just before sunrise, you can notice the elusive Mercury, which is now in the constellation Virgo.