On Wed, 12 Apr 2017 05:26:08 +0100, WA0CKY
wrote:


Alignments like these 4 stars are very common and usually quite
meaningless as they are just coincidental. When working in the Milky
Way as this image does, there are so many stars such accidental
alignments are to be expected. I find nothing to indicate these are
anything but such a coincidental alignment.

True enough. In many images, I see perfect circles of stars that are
probably all unrelated to one another. Some images have scores of
circles. Some have score of lines, triangles, Faux-Orions and other
accidental asterisms.
As you say, there are *lots* of stars out there.

Still, that line-up is neat. Maybe it needs a name? Wa0cky's Quartet?
Rick's Ruler?


Only the top star has a catalog listing other than that of the Hubble
Guide Star Catalog/Tycho catalog. It is SAO 114695 at magnitude 9.1.
Below it is GSC 153:2491 at magnitude 11.9. Below that is GSC 153:1480
at magnitude 10.3 and the bottom star is GSC 153:1814 at magnitude 9.8.
Only GSC 153:1480 has a parallax measurement. That puts it at about 58
light-years. I find nothing in the literature connecting these stars in
any way. Most studies looking for exo-planets are based on the summer
sky. Only a very few have been found in the winter sky as it hasn't had
the massive Kepler type study made here due to the winter Milky way
being less dense than the summer Milky Way. I find nothing to indicate
these stars or any other in the field have been studied for such
planets.

Thank you, sir, you are a very nice person.
Your reply is very interesting, helpful and knowledgeable, as always.
Your kindness is appreciated,
Mand.


Rick

Mandy Liefbowitz;1334132 Wrote:
On Tue, 11 Apr 2017 19:30:39 +0100,
Thank you.
I see four quite bright stars in a line just to the left (east?) of
the cluster. I'm assuming those are nearby objects?
Do they have names and histories and exoplanets?
Are they related (yes, I do know that's unlikely as two are very blue
and two orangish but they could be a co-moving group)?

Thanks for all the lovely images,
Mand.