NavList:

This one is not difficult. How many of the official navigation stars can you find in this photo? It's from a recent article in "The Atlantic". I've read only a few paragraphs in the article which is apparently about a photographer who enjoys photographing amateur astronomers and other "stargazers" while they are looking at the stars because she's intrigued by the inspiration they get from staring at the stars. I believe that's a nice definition of "meta". There could be more to it, but it was firewalled so I didn't read further...

The bright line in this image at first looks like a meteor trail, but it's something connected with community stargazing. It's a bright green-light laser. These things reach several hundred meters above ground before fading out, so they work as excellent pointers. I use them regularly on my stargazing cruises in the summer months (first batch starts in about two weeks). You point at a star, and everyone within dozens of meters of you and the laser sees you pointing at almost exactly the same location in the sky. It's as if the stars and the laser, too, are painted on the celestial sphere. Surprisingly effective and useful. 

After you have found the official navigation stars in this photo, can you find a somewhat fainter star called Zavijava? You can use this star with one of those official nav stars as a quick navigation tool in the Spring months. I've discussed this with some people who attended one of my online events a few years ago. Can you see it??

Frank Reed

File: