Nighttime Treasure Hunt

Can you locate these photos on a map of KPVillas? Each one contains a hidden gem--actually, a whole crown--that you can capture in late summer with a cell phone camera.

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Within each photo is the constellation Corona Borealis (CrB), the Northern Crown. The brightest of the seven stars defining CrB is Alphecca, also known as Gemma, the gem star in the crown.

The Northern Crown with Gemma relative to the Big Dipper; August 12, 2026 at midnight.

If you can duplicate the given photo and have CrB in the background, you will have the "before" image of an upcoming recurring nova. It last erupted into view in 1946, so only residents greater than 80 years old were alive when it happened then.

If you take a photograph now, you will have a comparison for when it erupts anew. But do it soon, for the constellation is getting lower in the western sky each night after sunnset. You will be way ahead of the game when the nova eventually becomes visible to the naked eye under the left bend of the U.

Tell that to your grandkids when the nova enters into the news cycle.

Where was each photo taken? Place as many as you can on this map.