This video is sponsored by skillshare, which is a place where you can learn basically any skill
set for less than ten dollars. More on that later in the video. As you look at this photo
there's probably a few things that stand out to you. I notice the Milky Way, it's big, it's bright
and it sweeps across the entire sky. I also notice Scorpius, which is a very distinctive
pattern in the night sky that looks like a giant hook, and it has a bright red star known as Antares,
but there are some other fainter constellations in this photo and in this video we're going to
explore. The constellation known as Corona Australis. It's a very small
faint constellation, but easy to find if you know where to look. Welcome to Learn the Sky, my name is
Janine and I'll be your guide as we explore the night sky together one constellation at a time.
Let's get a broad overview of the constellation known as Corona Australis.
It is represented as the southern crown and it's an ancient constellation that has a variety
of representations. I was really fascinated to learn about all the different depictions it's
had throughout history, and some saw a turtle, other cultures saw an ostrich nest, some saw a boomerang,
and legends about Corona Australis definitely appear in ancient Greek and Roman mythologies,
but the records of it date far back to the ancient Mesopotamian times. The name Corona
Australis is Latin for 'southern crown' and it's classified as a seasonal constellation.
So when and where can you see Corona Australis? It can be seen in both hemispheres and its best
visibility is during the month of August, and it's best to look towards the Southern part of the sky
because it's located right near the Teapot asterism. If you do live in the Northern hemisphere
you're a little bit more limited with where you can see it. It can be visible at 40 degrees North
latitude and lower, and if you live in the Southern hemisphere any latitude that you may live at you
should be able to see this one, and the key to finding it is looking for that Teapot asterism.
The Teapot is part of the constellation known as Sagittarius, and I do have a whole video about it
so be sure to go see that video if you want to learn more, and for me I always look for
this horseshoe, or actually it kind of looks like a boomerang to me, I look for this pattern in the sky,
and I'll give you some other tips that will help you to find it as well. Dark skies are preferred
when seeking out this constellation because most of the stars are a fourth magnitude.
So if you live in areas with high light pollution it may be challenging to see this constellation.
Now we'll take a look at the pattern that Corona Australis makes in the sky,
here we have the official star map that is released by the International Astronomical Union,
and for astronomers these are the official star patterns, but remember constellations
aren't just the patterns in the sky it's considered everything within this
white box. So it's all the stars that are in this particular boundary, and when I'm looking at this
specific pattern there's a few things that stand out to me. First is I notice how big all the other
stars are that are surrounding it, and that tells us the brightness of the stars, which is another
term that astronomers use for that is magnitude. So the bigger the dot the brighter the star,
and another thing I also noticed is that even though this is the official pattern
when I'm looking at it in the sky I kind of see more of this boomerang shape, or kind of an
it almost makes a complete oval but it's not quite connected here, but so how I see it is
a little bit different than the pattern that is shown here, but one thing, one key trick I
will teach you to find Corona Australis is using Scorpius as well, because the shape
right here that the stars make within the pattern is very similar to the this shape that
Scorpius has at the end of its tail. So let's dive in. We're going to look at some pictures to
help you get some practice with finding this constellation. So here I have this beautiful
artwork shown of Corona Australis, and over here is a real night sky picture. Now of course
this is an idealized picture of what the sky is. It's a long exposure photograph so some stars are
coming out more. So the thing that I try to look for is kind of that horseshoe like pattern, or the
boomerang pattern, andIi'm it's really easy for me to find the Teapot because it's located right by
the brightest area of the Milky Way, so here is actually, and we're looking in this area this is
the core of our Milky Way galaxy. So I see right here that's the Teapot, and then Corona Australis
is right beneath it. So there I traced out the pattern for you, and that is where the Teapot is.
So if you can find the Teapot, you can definitely find Corona Australis. Here we have just another
picture to show you. We're just kind of zooming out here a little bit more hopefully, you're able
to see the Teapot, and if we were to point it out that is where it is, and remember the Teapot
is an asterism and an asterism is also known as a false constellation. It's not a true constellation
but it could be a pattern within a larger pattern or it could be a connection with brighter stars.
I do have multiple videos about asterism so go ahead and see that video, and there is where Corona
Australis is. So let's take a look at some other pictures and see if you're able to identify it.
So here we have, I like this picture because this is a little bit more realistic a picture of what
you would see outside. So first things first is can you find the Teapot and if you can find the Teapot,
If you're struggling to find it look for the Milky Way and look where the Milky Way is the brightest,
and from there you should be able to find the Teapot. Once you find the Teapot look beneath it,
it is kind of towards the lower half lower middle of this photograph, and if we were to point it out,
if we put these pictures side by side there you can see the Teapot, sometimes I think the I
think of the Milky Way's like the steam coming out of the teapot, so that's kind of something
that helps me remember where it is, and then we're not seeing the full constellation but right there
is where you can see Corona Australis. So like I said, this is one that's really easy to see.
Let's get some more practice. So I love this photo, one because it's by the ocean and I love it, and
the moon is standing out. How do I know it's the moon and not a planet? Well because of
the reflection right here on the surface of the water, and then this definitely here is a planet. So
this, these, the position of these two tell me that Sagittarius is nearby, also the
Teapot, um, because Sagittarius is a zodiacal constellation, which means that the Moon, the
Sun, and the planets travel through this particular constellation. So are you able to find the teapot?
Here is where it is, okay, there's the handle, here's the spout, the Milky Way
is not as bright here probably because the moon is here, but it's also during sunset.
So here is the Teapot, and hopefully you can see that boomerang shape right by the
horizon. So again just more tips and tricks to help you find this constellation.
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I've got a few more pictures I'd like to share with you. This is the original one that I started
out with this video. So again find the Milky Way, find the spot that's the brightest, and from there
you should be finding the Teapot, once you find the Teapot you want to look for Corona Australis,
and to me it's very obvious in this photo. So I will point out that's where the Teapot is,
and then here is where that boomerang shape is, and another thing that I notice as I observe
and study these pictures is that the shape of this constellation is very similar to the shape
that you see in the tail of the Scorpion. So that's just another tip that you can use to help you find
Corona Australis. I've got one more picture for you to help you just get some more practice with how
to find Corona Australis and I use this photo all the time because it shows a lot of the summer sky
for me, and again I live in the Northern hemisphere, so when I look at this picture this is what the
summer sky would look like for me. If you live in the Southern hemisphere this would be the winter
sky, because because the seasons are opposite, but we can see these during the same time of year.
So on one side, on the left side of this photo you can see the Summer Triangle. You can connect
those three bright stars and that makes up the asterism known as the Summer Triangle. I've got
a whole video about that so go see it. On the right side I can see the Milky Way, where it's brightest,
I can also see Scorpius, and then again I can see where the Teapot is. Once I find Scorpius
in the Teapot I can easily point out where Corona Australis, I almost said Corona Borealis,
that's the one I'm most familiar with, so I'm not surprised I made that mistake, but right
here is where Corona Australis is. So again that that horseshoe, or boomerang type shape and if we
were to point out everything this is where Corona Australis is, and but then we also have Scorpius,
Ophiucus makes a an appearance here as well, Libra is here. So I love this photo because it just gives
us a great view of what's going on in the sky. In the next section of our video we'll review
over the celestial objects that you can find in Corona Australis. There aren't very many objects,
but the few that are in this constellation are really interesting. However you definitely would
need magnification to see some of the objects. The two that I'm going to focus in on with this video
is the globular cluster, known as NGC 6541, and this interesting area which includes a reflection
nebula, an absorption nebula, a globular cluster, and a variable star. So let's go ahead and dig in.
We'll start with NGC 6541. This is a globular star cluster that's located 22,000 light years away.
It's about 100 light years in diameter, and its age is estimated to be 14 billion years old. It is of
six magnitude which means that you can see it with the naked eye, but definitely dark skies would help
if you do want to see this constellation. The naked eye limit for magnitude is six magnitude.
So it is something that you can see, but if you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope
it would help you in order to to see this particular star cluster, but the next one I want
to talk about is very interesting, and this area is known as the Corona Australis molecular cloud,
and it's a star-forming dusty nebula in which has both a reflection and emission nebula. There's also
a variable star that's kind of cocooned inside here that's called R Coronae Australis, and this
is a variable star, and what is a variable star? It's one in which its brightness changes over time.
So I've got some other pictures of this, and keep in mind this is not something that you
would really be able to see. All these photos that I'm showing you are long exposure photographs,
worth of hours of data in which you stack the photos so these areas are able to show up, but
as we're looking at this let's go through and point out what exactly is going on here.
So I have the full picture, I removed the title and these are all the areas we'll talk about. So what
stands out to me is kind of this dark area, and this is an absorption nebula, and that means that
light cannot penetrate through this area of gas and dust, so therefore it's kind of like
absorbing that light that would pass through it, and then here right there, that area I pointed out
that is the variable star R Coronae Australis, then you can see the reflection nebula, so this star
is kind of um brightening up all the gas and dust in this area, and then finally we have
another globular cluster and this one known is known as NGC 6723.
So this one kind of took me a while to interpret and understand everything that's going on, and I
do have another map here that just shows you kind of the layers of what is happening. So we kind of
really focused in on this particular area. So again if you want to see this it's something that you
would need special equipment to do with astrophotography and combining exposures
as you're looking at the sky throughout the area.
In this section of the video we'll review over some of the mythologies that are connected to
Corona Australis, however keep in mind that the mythologies of the stars and constellations
really vary according to the time period, the place, and the culture. There really is no one
true mythology for any constellation there's just a variety of them, especially for this one.
I'm really only going to be scratching the surface and exploring a few of the Greek mythologies, but
there's many other cultures out there that saw something other than a wreath of myrtle leaves. So
in Greek mythology Corona Australis is not known as a crown, but as a wreath, and this constellation
was closely associated with the myth of Dionysus. Dionysus is the god of wine and many other things
as well, and he's often depicted wearing a wreath, and many followers of Dionysus were also seen
wearing a wreath. It is also postulated that in Greek mythology that this wreath is connected to
Sagittarius, especially since it lies so close to that constellation. Was this wreath on the crown of
his head? It's hard to say, but it is also connected with Chiron the Centaur. So when looking at other
stories in Greek mythology it is possible that this constellation is the representation of the
wreath that was worn by Chiron the Centaur, and one other story that I found is with how this myrtle
wreath came into being. So one story that pertained to Corona Australis is that this crown was placed
in the sky by the god Dionysus after retrieving his dead mother from the underworld. This crown
was a wreath that was made of myrtle leaves that Dionysus gave to Hades in return for his mother. So
again this is just a small portion of the stories and legends that exist out there, but it's often
the stories of the stars that help us connect to not only the past but the present patterns as well.
We've come to the end of our video about Corona Australis. So let's review everything we learned
throughout this video. It's best seen in the month of August looking South, and it can be seen
in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere. If you live in the Northern hemisphere you are
limited with which latitude in which you can see it in, mostly from 40 degrees latitude and below. It
is classified as a seasonal constellation, and it's also considered to be an ancient constellation, and
has many variations in many different cultures. The best way to find it is look for the Teapot
asterism, which I'm pointing out right here, and from there you want to look for Corona Australis
nearby. You can also use the curved tail of Scorpius right there to help you find
the southern crown as well. There are some pretty interesting celestial objects here
including Corona Australis molecular cloud, which has a variety of things. It has an emission nebula,
reflection nebula, variable star, as well as a globular cluster right next to that. However
you do need special equipment in order to see that, and then there's also NGC 6541, which is
another globular cluster that can be seen with the unaided eye. So i wish you luck finding this
constellation, and let me know in the comments have you ever seen this constellation before,
was it easy for you to find, and did you have any other tips and tricks that you can share in I
in how you find this constellation. So thank you so much for watching, I always appreciate
your support and your feedback and keep going outside and as always keep looking up.