CONSTELLATION: RETICULUM

In 1969, in accordance with the Terence Dickinson article, “The Zeta Reticuli Incident,” Ms. Marjorie Fish, a schoolteacher from Ohio, determined that the hub of the famous Betty Hill Star Map was Zeta 2 Reticuli, a fifth magnitude solar type star about 37 light-years distant, located in the southern hemisphere skies in a small constellation named Reticulum. Bob Lazar claimed that the U.S. Government documents he had reviewed while working at S4 stated the flying discs in the U.S. Government's possession were built at the fourth planet orbiting Zeta 2 Reticuli.

Where exactly is Zeta 2 Reticuli located in the night sky? Unfortunately for anyone in the continental United States, Zeta 2 Reticuli never rises above the southern horizon. Zeta 2 Reticuli is never visible to anyone north of about 22� North Latitude because it is a “South Circumpolar Star” with a declination of -63� (63� South Sky Latitude). Zeta 2 Reticuli is a member of a wide double star system. Zeta 2 Reticuli and its companion star Zeta 1 Reticuli are at least 350 billion miles apart or about 100 times more distant than Pluto is to the Sun. They appear to be moving together through space and probably rotate around a common center every 100,000 years. Assume that the Earth were orbiting either one of the two Stars at about the same distance Earth orbits our Sun. The other Star would appear very bright in the night sky having a visual, or apparent, magnitude of �9 which is equivalent to 15% of the brightness of the Full Moon and would easily be visible during daylight. Both stars are approximately 37 light years away and are located in the Constellation Reticulum. Both stars are G2V stars, very similar to our Sun. Zeta 1 Reticuli has a luminosity of 0.7 times that of our Sun and Zeta 2 Reticuli has a luminosity of 0.9 times that of our Sun. The visual, or apparent, magnitude of Zeta 1 Reticuli is 5.5 and the visual, or apparent, magnitude of Zeta 2 Reticuli is 5.2, therefore, both stars are just above the visibility limit of the naked eye. Moving relative to the Sun: Zeta 1 Reticuli is moving at -79 km/sec in parallel with the galactic plane and 15 km/sec in a perpendicular direction above the galactic plane; Zeta 2 Reticuli is moving 127 km/sec in parallel with the galactic plane and 27 km/sec in a perpendicular direction below the galactic plane. Our Sun is moving at approximately 273 km/sec along the galactic plane.

Figure 1: Star Map of Southern Skies
in the Vicinity of Constellation Reticulum

Click on Figure 1, above, for a Larger Star Map.

Constellation Reticulum (English Name = “the Net”) is located in the center of the Figure 1 Star Chart. Constellation Reticulum is located about halfway along an imaginary line drawn between the First Magnitude Stars Canopus, located in the Constellation Carina (English Name = “Keel of the Ship of Argo”), and Achernar, located in the Constellation Eridanus (the Eridanus River). The South Celestial Pole (SCP) is located along the star chart vertical centerline near the bottom of the star chart.

Figure 2: Constellation Reticulum

Click on Figure 2, above, for a Larger Star Map.

Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli are located at the right center of the Figure 2 Star Chart near the imaginary boundary (designated by the red dashed line) along the right side of the Constellation Reticulum. Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli are designated ζ1 and ζ2, respectively, and are identified by the yellow text on the Figure 2 Star Chart, above, and the Figure 3 Star Chart, below.

Constellation Reticulum