Key Takeaways:
- The "Broken Engagement Ring" is a star pattern (asterism), not a real celestial object.
- It's located near the star Merak in the Big Dipper.
- The asterism is best viewed with binoculars or a low-power telescope.
- The stars in this pattern are not physically connected.
The sky is full of interesting and unusual asterisms. If you look around hard enough, or are tired enough, you can convince yourself that you see patterns of stars that resemble practically anything.
But certain asterisms, simply patterns of stars that are composed of members not physically associated with each other, stand out more than others. One such notable asterism is Sachariassen 1, known more commonly as the “broken engagement ring.”
The ring of stars lies just 1° west of the 2d-magnitude star Merak, Beta Ursae Majoris, the bottom right star in the Bowl of the Big Dipper. The Broken Engagement Ring contains a semicircle of physically unrelated stars ranging from magnitudes 7 to 11, covering a diameter of about 15’.
Thus, the ring makes a really nice sight in binoculars or a low-power telescopic field of view.
Take a look and see what you think — and remember that the sky hides quite a few interesting fields of view that have nothing to do with the deep-sky objects we routinely think of!
