Ring of Stars

[celestial2006]

Hello Astronomer!<br /><br />I was on a visit to Tsuniah Lake, BC (Latitude: 51°32'N (51.533) <br />Longitude: 124°10'W (-124.167) ) This lake is at the 4000 ft level in elevation and we were able to view a spectacular night sky because it was during the phase of a new moon, but with out a telescope. This was on the night of August 23rd about midnight PST.<br />Just ahead of us right above the horizon, facing south we noticed just below the Milky Way and to the east, a ring of stars. It stood out very clearly. This circle of stars included about 6 stars and the 7th star you could not see clearly unless you didn't look at the circle directly, as that 7th star was not as vivid. What was it we saw? I wish I could have filmed it.

 

[MeteorWayne]

One other piece of information needed is how big the ring was.<br /><br />One ring that you may be talking about is the constellation Corona Borealis. It is small enough that your hand would just about cover it. It was about 60 degrees up, right in the direction you said.<br /><br />See this <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I will also try and attach a blown up image of the constellation (From my SkyMap Pro program)<br /><br /><br />There is another "ring" of bright objects going from the horizon to overhead, they would be, to the left Altair, nearly overhead Vega, to th right Arturus, and along the horizon Jupiter on the right and Antares on the left. These are some of the brightest stars, and the 2nd brightest easily visible planet.<br /><br />But that's only 5. And it's HUGE.<br /><br /><br />So, how big was the ring?<br />As big as your fist if you hold your arm all the way out, bigger or smaller? If you give me some clue, I can take a better guess.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>