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The river Eridanus begins humbly (as all rivers do), at the feet of Orion. Meandering toward the west, it soon dips south, and is lost from view to most northern hemisphere observers. Those below 32 degrees latitude see it winding and tumbling down amongst the southern constellations to end with a splash at the bright star Achernar, almost parallel with Canopus, the second brightest star in the night sky.
Achernar means the star at the end of the river. It is the ninth brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of 0.53. Achernar is a B5 blue giant, with a surface temperature twice as hot as the Sun. It is also seven times the diameter of the Sun, making it 650 times brighter. It is 120 light years away.
Nestled in the western crook of the river is the spiral galaxy NGC 1232. The photo on the left was taken by Jerry Mulchin with a ten inch telescope, which is large for a backyard. The photo on the right was taken with a slightly larger 328 inch (8.2 meter) telescope by the European Southern Observatory. Click on photos for enlarged images.
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