Tammy Plotner and Jeff Barber, Universe Today
The plane of the moon and the pico point rising from it
On this day in 1899, the first national astronomical organization in the USA was born - the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (Pacific Ocean).
Tonight we will again return as usual this month to the moon and to the crater we have already met - Plato. To the south of the dark mountains of Mar Imbrium you will be able to see a star-like point of light - the lone peak known as Mons Pico. This is a unique lunar mountain. The rock from which it is made reflects a lot of light. This makes it look like a pyramid in the long shadows of the sunrise. Pico's pyramid is about 2,500 meters above the lunar plane and its base is about 30 km.
After looking at an impressive mountain, we also saw an equally impressive star - Alpha Orionis. Although it is classified as Orion's brightest star in Jonathan Bayer's C-1603 oronometry list, Beetlejuice, it's other known name, pales slightly with an Oriones accent - known as Regal. What makes it special is its color. To the eye, Beetlejuice appears as an impressive red-orange star. The color is due to it being an M2 star. Like many of the stars in the M spectrum, Beetlejuice is also a true red giant. A star nearing the end of its life.
It is a cold star, whose photosphere is made of very thin hydrogen and helium. The diameter of the star is about 500 million km. If he were in the place of the sun, he would reach beyond the orbit of Mars.
At a distance of 430 light years, Beetlejuice is one of the largest and most prominent stars in the winter sky.
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