Thursday 27 February 2020

Blogorati Stars: Mago

 After waiting somewhat impatiently for the Union astronomique internationale, or International Astronomical Union (IAU), to publish the next lot of official star names (the last set of additions was back in August 2018), I did some link clicking on their website and have just discovered that some 112 additions were made two weeks ago, on 13th February 2020. 
 Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a star in the constellation Camelopardalis (the Giraffe) has been named Mago!  Apparantly, the star designated HD 32518 was named after the Mago National Park in Ethiopia (noted for its giraffes), but a little research and some wild deductions later has led me to conclude that the star is, in fact, named after our very own Mago!  And he very probably influenced its naming considering that the name was suggested by pupils at a school in the town of Neckargemünd, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany - not a million miles away from our Mago in Franconia.  Surely not a coincidence?

 HD 32518 Mago is almost 400 light years from Earth, and although bigger and more luminous than our sun, is barely visible to the naked eye from here.  It is certainly undetectable by Camera (or it was back in August 2019 when I took this photo), so I've marked its approximate location with a golden circle.


 Mago can be found at right ascension 05h 09m 36.7201s, declination +69° 38′ 21.8551° - or at the nape of the giraffe's neck not far from the star Alpha Camelopardalis, also known as Shǎowèi. 

 Camelopardalis is one of the northern most constellations and, therefore, is only partially visible (if at all) from south of the equator (sorry, Dinah).  It is bordered by Ursa Minor and Cepheus to the north, Cassiopeia to the east, Perseus, Auriga and Lynx to the south, and Draco and Ursa Major to the west.

 I shall be scouring the additions to the list of IAU-approved star names to see if any other Blogorati have managed to get themselves so immortalised.

12 comments:

  1. Twinkle Twinkle, little... Mitzi? Savvy, perhaps? There just has to be a Hecate, however. Jx

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    1. The twinkles are very little indeed. So little, in fact as to be practically non-existant. My scouring has determined that all the newly named stars seem to be barely - if at all - visible with the naked eye. In fact, Mago appears to be the least dim - or, should I say, the brightest, just like its namesake!

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  2. Well done! Most excellent tweaking and adding of 2 + 2.

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    1. Why, thank you! And I hardly needed a calculator at all!

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  3. I thought Mago came from Rimsting.

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    1. Oh, that must be the name of the planet orbiting his star!?

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  4. Congratulations Mago! Inexplicable you're right about the naming of the star: obviously if it was after a national park they would have named one after what was called the Wankie Game Reserve in what is now Zimbabwe!

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  5. How exciting! We know a STAR!!! xoxo

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    1. I'm preparing to name-drop Mago into every conversation!

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  6. I WANNABE A STAR!!!!!! Or perhaps I should be a whole planet?
    Sx

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    1. Why settle there? A solar system? A galaxy?? The universe!!!

      Of course, if you do become a universe, be sure to have a chair to sit on from time to time...

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Tickle my fancy, why don't you?