A-Z of astronomical objects (Stars, planets, galaxies etc.)

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1.
Name a star, planet, galaxy, minor planet, Kuiper Belt Object, asteroid, comet etc.

2.
Write at least ONE fact about the object, and maximum THREE facts.
"Star" or "Comet" is indeed a fact.

3 . If the previous object is NOT in fact an astronomical object, you must ignore that, and
write another one with the same letter.

I'll go first:

Aldebaran
- Orange giant star
- 65 ly from Earth
- 44 solar radii

Uuuhh, you didn't get very specific with the letter rules.

Edit: nevermind. I get it now.

Boomerang nebula.
- is supposedly 1 kelvin.
- In the constellation centaurus.
- Also known as the bow tie nebula. Still uses a B, but i think it looks more like a bow tie then a boomerang.

Ceres
- Minor Planet (Dwarf Planet)
- Largest object of the asteroid belt
- Next visit from Earth: 2015 (Spacecraft: Dawn)

Deneb
- properly Alpha Cygni, brightest star in the constellation Cygnus
- Class A blue-white supergiant
- One of the vertices of the Summer Triangle

Eltanin (Etamin)
– γ Draconis
– sp. type K5 III (red giant star)
– parallax 21.14 mas

Fenrir
- One of Saturns smallest and most distant moons
- Diameter: 4 km.
- Apparent magnitude as seen from earth: 26

Gemma
– α Coronae Borealis (also known as Alphecca)
– sp. type A0 V + G5 V, Algol-type eclipsing binary of two main-sequence stars (the fainter comp. much like our Sun)
– parallax 43.46 mas

Hoag's Object
- Rare ring type galaxy about 600 Mly from Earth
- slightly larger than the Milky Way
- Ring consists primarily of young blue stars

Io (not to be confused with the Jovian moon of the same name)
– Properly called 85 Io, an asteroid discovered in 1865
– Dimensions approximately 180 × 160 × 160 km
– Estimate of mass 3.4 × 10¹⁸ kg

Japetus (alson known as Iapetus)
- Saturns third largest moon
- Mysterious mountain ridge runs along the equator
- At a maximum height of 20 km, it is the heighest mountains in the Solar System.

Kapteyn's star (HD 33793)
– Second largest annual proper motion known for a star (8" per year)
– Relatively close with parallax 256 mas
– Also a variable star of the BY Dra type

Leda (38 Leda, not the the Jupiter moon)
- Main belt asteroid
- Diameter: 115 km
- Surface temperature: 170K

Medusa Nebula (Abell 21)
– Planetary nebula some 4 ly across
– Discovered in 1955 by George O. Abell
– App. visual magnitude V = 15.99

Naos (aka Zeta Puppis)
- Blue super giant (O4If)
- Surface temperature: 42.000 K
- Emits more than 12.000 times as much visual radiation as the Sun, even though
the majority of it's energy is emitted as ultraviolet radiation

Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976)
– Diffuse nebula just south of Orion's Belt, birthplace of new stars
– Diameter some 24 ly across
– Most photographed object in the night sky (other than our Moon)