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Columba: Difference between revisions
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Columba is rather inconspicuous, the brightest star, Alpha Columbae, being only of magnitude 2.7. Alpha Columbae, a blue-white star, is traditionally called Phact, which means "ring dove". Alpha Columbae is 268 light-years from Earth. The only other named star in Columba is Beta Columbae, which has the name Wazn. It is an orange-hued giant star of magnitude 3.1, 86 light-years from Earth.[ | Columba is rather inconspicuous, the brightest star, Alpha Columbae, being only of magnitude 2.7. Alpha Columbae, a blue-white star, is traditionally called Phact, which means "ring dove". Alpha Columbae is 268 light-years from Earth. The only other named star in Columba is Beta Columbae, which has the name Wazn. It is an orange-hued giant star of magnitude 3.1, 86 light-years from Earth.[ | ||
Columba is the constellation that is at the solar antapex - the Earth (and Sun) is moving away from its direction as the solar system moves through space. | Columba is the constellation that is at the solar antapex - the Earth (and Sun) is moving away from its direction as the solar system moves through space. | ||
The constellation contains the runaway star μ Columbae, which was probably expelled from the ι Orionis system. | The constellation contains the runaway star μ Columbae, which was probably expelled from the ι Orionis system.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columba_%28constellation%29 Columba]</ref> | ||
==Deep-sky objects== | ==Deep-sky objects== | ||
There is one globular cluster in Columba, 7th-magnitude NGC 1851. It is 35,000 light-years from Earth and is resolvable in medium-sized amateur telescopes | There is one globular cluster in Columba, 7th-magnitude NGC 1851. It is 35,000 light-years from Earth and is resolvable in medium-sized amateur telescopes. | ||
[[File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Canis Major, Lepus, Columba Noachi & Cela Sculptoris.jpg|thumb|File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Canis Major, Lepus, Columba Noachi & Cela Sculptoris.jpg]] | [[File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Canis Major, Lepus, Columba Noachi & Cela Sculptoris.jpg|thumb|File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Canis Major, Lepus, Columba Noachi & Cela Sculptoris.jpg]] | ||