Soon after the accident, the Scoptons registered a star in Lauren's name. As is typical of such stars, it is too dim to see with the naked eye. Nonetheless, our friends at Astrocamp (in particular, John Keller), brought this star into "view" for us in two ways.

First John took the coordinates of this magnitude 11 star (RA 2hr 4m 38.35s, Decl. 37d 27' 29.56") and familiarized us with the part of the sky where it is located. The following color coded chart helps find the section of sky.

Map to Star Lauren Interess

The blue square containing four bright stars marks the Great Square of Pegasus. From the northeast corner of the square lies the constellation Andromeda connected in green. (Remember you're looking up, so east and west will appear reversed on the chart.) The string of bright stars at the southerly portion of Andromeda terminate at star Almach, to the south of which is the small constellation Triangulum, shown in lavender. The circle between the two constellations is where Lauren's Star is located.

The best times to view Andromeda and Triangulum vary throughout the year based on their position relative to the sun and the hours of daylight when no stars at all are visible. The following gives the approximate times and locations to view this area at mid-northern latitudes, covering much of the contiguous United States.

Month		Hours When Visible				Where 1st Visible
Jan 15 Feb 15 Mar 15 Apr 15 May 15 Jun 15 Jul 15 Aug 15 Sep 15 Oct 15 Nov 15 Dec 15		Sunset  Sunset Sunset Sunset 3 AM 1 AM 11 PM 9 PM Sunset Sunset Sunset Sunset	to  to to to to to to to to to to to	2 AM 12 Mid 10 PM 9 PM Sunrise Sunrise  Sunrise Sunrise Sunrise Sunrise 6 AM 4 AM		Overhead High in West West NW Horizon NE Horizon NE Horizon NE Horizon East East High in East High in East High in East

Next, John showed us a picture he had taken of the star using the equipment in the Lauren Interess Observatory. That picture is shown here.

Notice that if you connect the brighter stars across the center of the picture, you would create an elongated letter M. Or, toward the right of the picture, you could create a diamond on its side. Lauren's Star is the one at the center point of the M, and it also lies on the left point of the diamond. Click on Lauren's Star in the picture to display a message.

Incidentally, creating star groupings (asterisms) like the "M" and the diamond is similar to what the ancients did in assigning mythological figures to the constellations. The best known of these figures is Orion (The Hunter). David Goodsell, Director of the Desert Sun Science Center, spoke of Orion in his lovely tribute to Lauren, Lauren and Jody, The Legend of the Three Sisters. Please don't miss it.

Such recognizable groupings are the key to using a sky chart as a map to locate beautiful deep-sky objects like those that Lauren shares with us below.

Lauren's Deep Space Images