Boötes facts for kids
| Constellation | |
List of stars in Boötes
|
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| Abbreviation | Boo |
|---|---|
| Symbolism | the herdsman |
| Right ascension | 15 |
| Declination | +30 |
| Quadrant | NQ3 |
| Area | 907 sq. deg. (13th) |
| Main stars | 7, 15 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
59 |
| Stars with planets | 9 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 3 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 3 |
| Brightest star | Arcturus (α Boo) (−0.04m) |
| Meteor showers |
|
| Visible at latitudes between +90° and −50°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of June. Other designations: Arctophylax |
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Boötes, pronounced with both 'O's as 'boötez', is one of the 88 modern constellations in the northern sky. The name is from the Greek word Βοώτης, which means herdsman – someone who takes care of animals.
Shape
The constellation's shape is like a kite. Boötes has the third brightest star in the night sky, called Arcturus (α Bootis). The astronomer Ptolemy listed it in the 2nd century when he made a list of 48 constellations.
The Cloverleaf quasar is visually in Bootes.
Main stars
- α Bootis (Arcturus) is the brightest and most important star of the constellation, with a magnitude of -0.04, the 3rd brightest star of the sky. It is an orange giant star
- β Bootis (Nekkar), yellow giant with magnitude 3.49 and 219 light years from the Earth
- y Bootis (Ceginus), Delta Scuti variable with magnitude 3,04
- δ Bootis (Princeps), another yellow giant.
Deep-sky objects
- NGC 5248, spiral galaxy, 10º south of Arcturus
- NGC 5466, globular cluster, 9º northwest of Arcturus, near M3, a globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Images for kids
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Boötes as depicted in Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825. In his left hand he holds his hunting dogs, Canes Venatici. Below them is the constellation Coma Berenices. Above the head of Boötes is Quadrans Muralis, now obsolete, but which lives on as the name of the early January Quadrantid meteor shower. Mons Mænalus can be seen at his feet.
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A digital rendering of Tau Boötis b
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Evolution of the HD 128311 system over time
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A Quadrantid captured by an all-sky camera during a 4-second exposure
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A bright Quadrantid observed at twilight
See also
In Spanish: Bootes para niños
