Aries and visible stars

Event Date: May 25th
Time: 4:30 AM

Brief

   Aries is not a bright constellation, and only has two stars which are easy enough to see: Hamal  (magnitude 2.0) and Sheratan (2.6).  They are two very different stars: although similar in distance, Hamal at 66 light years away is an orange giant, much cooler than 60 light year-distant Spica; the latter has a luminosity of 22 Suns

Detailed

   Both stars are shown rising in the east-northeast during the first stages of twilight this week shown here:

As we move into June next week, the early Sunrises will continue to keep them from showing for long, and a clear horizon will be needed.  During summertime, they are easy to see higher up, although with a single glance, they do not draw much attention from viewers.  Instead, they are more focused on the return of the Pleiades Star Cluster, which I have mentioned a couple times already when it was setting earlier in the season.  The great Square of Pegasus is the other asterism that dwarf Aries' stars, since the rest of the constellation's starts are either moderately dim or very dim.  There is one close to Sheratan named Mesarthim (3.8).  Along with Sheratan and Hamal, the Ram's head is formed, which is shown with image two and also including the almost-equally dim 41 Arietis at the other end of the stick figure.  While these dimmer stars are visible in a dark enough sky, they are more difficult with a light-polluted sky.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

   The rest of its body, in a sitting/resting position, is many stars too dim to see easily.  Even if they were easy enough to see, they do not outline a ram's figure the way that stars of Leo and Taurus do, as examples for their respective animals of a lion and bull.  I haven't talked too much about Taurus aside from the Pleiades which is thought of as a brand on his back.  As he gets out of the glare of the Sun this summer, I will revisit him as a topic.