INDEPENDENT PROJECT: The Spring Night Sky

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Janice Glenn
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1 INDEPENDENT PROJECT: The Spring Night Sky Your Name: Today s world of clicking and surfing around on the web has probably reduced our ability to patiently, deliberately, and intensely observe. Looking is passive. Observing is active and aimed at achieving a deep goal. The looker glances for a moment and then moves on. The observer studies, considers, examines, and lingers. Being able to observe is a necessary skill for you to have if you are to conduct any science. It requires practice. A good way to practice observing is to make as accurate and detailed a hand-drawing as you can of what you see, with notes about what the drawing shows, which takes time. In observing astronomical things in the sky, the goal is not to look; it is not to see; it is not just to name the things you see; it is to observe. In this exercise, The Spring Night Sky, the objectives are to: 1. Observe, identify, and locate stars. This includes locating and naming several specific stars and measuring (with hands and eyes) angles between stars. 2. Study constellations and asterisms. This involves identifying groups or patterns of stars. 3. Identify and locate any visible planets (which can be seen without a telescope). 4. If the Moon is visible, identify its phase and locate it. Tips on being prepared for observing: Observe from a dark, elevated site with a wide, unimpeded view of the sky. The goal is to have no artificial lights in sight and as high an elevation above sea level as possible. Do not observe with any lights on nearby, including streetlights. Get away from them. Preserve your night vision. It takes the eyes minutes to become dilated and achieve night vision. A white beam from a flashlight or car headlights will destroy your night vision and you will not be able to see as many stars. Soft red light does not ruin your night vision. To see things like this page in the dark while observing the night sky, use a red flashlight or LED. Put a red balloon over the end of a flashlight or buy a keychain red LED light for a couple of dollars at a local store. Dress appropriately to stay warm and comfortable while standing outside for an hour. It may be very cold outside. Do not let insufficient clothing s affect your observing session. Take a camera to meet the photography requirement (see below for details). All the drawings must be real drawings you made while outside under the stars. Draw only what you actually see. Do not copy constellations from star charts, and DO NOT draw lines connecting the stars in your constellation drawings. Any constellation drawn with lines connecting its stars earns zero points. Three different nights is the minimum requirement for how many nights you observe the night sky and record your results for this project. REPORTING YOUR OBSERVING RESULTS For each night you observe you MUST create a page that contains the following information: 1. Date 2. Times (start time and end time) The Spring Night Sky Spring 2018 Page 1

2 3. Location (be specific, give an address or a physical description of where your observing site is located) 4. Weather (be specific, give the temperature and describe the cloudiness, haziness, windiness) 5. Quality of seeing (excellent, good, moderate, or poor, and why) 6. Labeled drawings of constellations/stars/planets (see below for targets). a. Each drawing must include an indication of the horizon - sketch hills/houses/trees, or if looking high in the sky draw an arrow pointing down toward the horizon stating which compass direction the arrow points. 7. Each drawing must have your name and the date on it. The Photography Requirement: A. At least three of your constellation drawings must be accompanied by a photograph you took of that part of the sky during that observing session. B. At least one of your planet drawings must be accompanied by a photograph you took of that part of the sky during that observing session, in which the planet is visible. C. Any drawing that includes the Moon (at least one such drawing is required must be accompanied by a photograph in which the Moon is visible. D. The photographs should be printed on (or glued upon) regular notebook-size pages and should be date-stamped. (If your camera does not have the date-stamp option, write the date and time on the page with the photo.) Add a caption stating what is depicted in the photograph (what the camera was aimed at when you took the photograph). DIGITALLY SUBMITTED PHOTOS NOT ACCEPTED, UNLESS YOU ARE SCANNING YOUR HAND-DRAWN AND WRITTEN PARTS OF YOUR NIGHT SKY PROJECT AND TURNING THE WHOLE THING IN DIGITALLY, IN WHICH CASE THE DOCUMENT MUST INCLUDE YOUR LABELED AND CAPTIONED PHOTOGRAPHS. NO DIGITAL PHOTOS THAT ARE NOT EMBEDDED IN THE NIGHT SKY PROJECT ITSELF WILL BE ACCEPTED. They will be deleted (if digital) or thrown in the trash (if turned in as separate photographs.) Got it? NOTE: If you find it difficult to get the stars to show up in your photographs, then perhaps try borrowing a digital camera, or get a night-sky photography app if using a smartphone and learn how to use it. Try taking photographs of the brightest celestial objects the brightest stars and/or or the brightest planets. At least those should show up in your photographs. FORMAT The format of your report reflects the quality of your work and has a big influence on the points it will earn. A high-quality report will have a cover page that gives an explanatory title and all necessary related information; an introduction that explains what the report is about and what you did to create it; a table of contents; a page before each drawing that tells the date, time, weather, and quality of seeing; no lines connecting stars in constellations; labels of the constellations, bright stars, planets, and the Moon (specifying its phase) where they appear in the drawings; photographs that are labeled or captioned to explain when, where, and what they are of; and a table of the angles you measured for the assigned things in the sky, using a compass or sense of direction, and your hand to measure the angles, to a precision of no better than ± two degrees. The Spring Night Sky Spring 2018 Page 2

3 OBSERVING TARGETS AND TASKS 1. The circumpolar constellations. On clear nights, the circumpolar stars are always visible from mid-latitudes (like Wenatchee) as well as higher latitudes (Canada and Alaska, for example). In the northern sky, locate the star Polaris and the constellations Ursa Minor (which includes the Little Dipper asterism), and Ursa Major (which contains the Big Dipper asterism.) Also locate the constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus. Draw a sketch map of the stars you see defining the circumpolar constellations. Label Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Draco. Connect the brighter stars in the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper together with lines. Label the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper asterisms. Label the stars Polaris and Mizar. 2. The Big Dipper Asterism as a Locator. This needs to be a separate drawing from the one you make for the circumpolar constellations (above). It needs to be made either later the same night or else on a different night. Draw the Big Dipper Asterism. Label the stars Mizar and Alcor (assuming you can see both). On your drawing of the Big Dipper, draw an arrow through the pointer stars extending in the direction of Polaris, the North Star. Label the tip of the arrow to Polaris. Draw an arcing arrow extending through and beyond the handle of the Big Dipper, and label it arc to Arcturus. 3. Gemini Draw and label the constellation Gemini (the Twins). Label its two brightest stars, Pollux and Castor. Note that you MUST observe the evening night sky before late April to see Gemini during the spring. Also, you will need to observe and map part of the evening night sky prior to late April hit Target #6, the zodiacal constellations, including Gemini. See note after #6. 4. Leo Draw and label the constellation Leo (the Lion). Label the brightest star in Leo: Regulus. 5. Virgo Draw and label the constellation Virgo (the Virgin). Label the brightest star in Virgo: Spica. 6. Four zodiacal constellations in a row: Libra, Virgo, Leo, Gemini Draw and label these four zodiacal constellations spread out against the evening sky in one drawing: Libra, Virgo, Leo, and Gemini. Label the bright stars in these constellations Spica, Regulus, Castor, and Pollux. Note that Libra has no bright stars. However, it DOES contain the planet Jupiter during April Draw and label Jupiter at its location in the constellation Libra as part of your drawing of the four zodiacal constellations. Also, see the previous note, under Gemini. The Spring Night Sky Spring 2018 Page 3

4 7. The Summer Triangle (very late at night; later in the spring may be better) Draw and Label the three stars of the Summer Triangle: Vega, Deneb, and Altair. Draw the other stars you can see in the the constellation each bright star is in. Label those three constellations, Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila. 8. Boötes Draw and label the constellation Boötes (the ox driver or plowman). Label the brightest star in Boötes: Arcturus. 9. Hercules Draw and label the constellation Hercules (the hero). Draw lines connecting the four stars together in the Keystone asterism in Hercules. Label the Keystone asterism in Hercules. Draw a dot and add the label M13 (use an arrow from the label pointing to the dot if need be) to show where the star cluster M13 is in Hercules. 10. Early Morning Constellations After 4:00 AM, before any sunlight starts brightening the sky Go out after 4:00 AM in the morning, before the first light of dawn lightens the sky, to observe the southern and southeastern sky AND THREE PLANETS. You should be able to see the constellations Virgo, Libra, most of Scorpius (part of it may be beneath the southern horizon), and part of Sagittarius (much of it may be out of sight below the horizon. Draw Virgo and Libra and what you can see of Scorpius and Sagittarius. Label the bright stars Spica and Antares. Draw in and label the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. 11. The Moon you are likely to see the Moon on at least one of the nights you observe. If so, you are expected to take advantage of the opportunity to include it in your observing results. Draw the Moon, name its phase, give its altazimuth coordinates, and state which constellation it is in. Also, remember to photograph it. 12. The Planets. Observe, draw and label the following four planets: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and Venus. Those four planets plus Mercury are the only planets in the sky that can easily be seen with the naked eye. On your drawings: Label each planet. Draw the brightest stars you can see near the planets. Label the constellation each planet is in. Give the altazimuth coordinates for the planet Notes: As seen from Earth, the planets move across the fixed constellations of the zodiac. Day by day, the planets keep changing location relative to the background stars and sun. Also, you will identify label, and identify three of these planets for Target #9, which completes the requirement on three of the four planets. That leaves Venus, which during Spring 2018 is an evening star, in view in the evening after the sun sets. The Spring Night Sky Spring 2018 Page 4

5 Altazimuth Coordinates and Angular Separations of things you observe in the night sky. Fill in the following table to record the date/time and altazimuth coordinates of selected objects as you see them in the night sky, and for angles between selected objects. These measurements, conducted by you while observing the celestial objects in the sky and written down here, are required for a significant amount of points in this project. Date and Time: Regulus azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Spica azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Arcturus azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Antares azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Moon azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Jupiter azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Mars azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Saturn azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Mercury* azimuth: altitude: Date and Time: Angle between Jupiter and Spica: Arcturus: Date and Time: Angle between Arcturus and Polaris: Regulus: Date and Time: Angle between Venus and Pollux: Jupiter: You must measure the angles yourself. Therefore, they will only be accurate to a ± 4 precision and cannot be written to more than whole-number units. Remember, except for the three asterisms you are instructed to draw, do not draw lines connecting stars in your constellations. Only draw what you see. Must include some horizon features on drawings that depict stars located in the lower half of your sky, to orient your sketch for those who look at it later. Houses, trees, or hills are typical horizon features. Always indicate direction on drawings: N &/or S &/or E &/or W. The Spring Night Sky Spring 2018 Page 5

6 When the visible planets will appear in the night sky this spring of 2018: Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn March evening sky after ~4 AM after 11 PM after ~4 AM April evening sky after ~3 AM after 10 PM after ~3 AM May evening sky after ~2 AM after dark after ~2 AM Venus is in its evening star configuration this spring, which means it is the first thing to come out in the sky, as far as stars and planets go, as the sun sets. Look for toward the west or southwest. The other planets are after midnight planets this spring. People may think you are crazy to be out there looking at the night sky at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. But as an astronomer, it is what you will have to do! The night sky is always out there, every night, waiting for you to come look at it. Are you prepared to go observe it? It is up to you to make sure you are dressed warm enough and are viewing from a safe place. It must be a dark place, as far away as possible from any lights. Lights are not your friend when it comes to being able to see all the stars and other astronomical things in the sky. Your eyes must dilate as much as possible, which takes more than 10 minutes, so you must be in as dark a place as possible. Your night-sky viewing place must have a wide view of the sky, with the least possibly blockage of the night sky by trees, hills, or other opaque things. And, again, no lights, or at least, if you can t avoid them completely, no lights within a few hundred feet. It is up to you to plan your planet-hunting, night-sly-viewing sessions more precisely before you go out there and freeze your whatever in your quest for true astronomical knowledge. Do some online research, and/or ask your instructor, which hours of the night the visible planets will be up, which of them will be up, and where in the sky they will by, in terms of direction to look and which constellation each is in. Plan your observing sessions accordingly. Two recommended sources to help you plan our observing, and find your stars and planets, are In the Sky and EarthSky-Tonight. See their websites at and (click on Tonight). The Spring Night Sky Spring 2018 Page 6

INDEPENDENT PROJECT: The Spring Night Sky

INDEPENDENT PROJECT: The Spring Night Sky Your Name: Today s world of clicking and surfing around on the web has probably reduced our ability to patiently, deliberately, and intensely observe. Looking