Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Exploring the Night Sky October 14, 2009 1
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Exploring the Night Sky Objectives Learn how to locate and identify objects in the night sky using your naked eye, binoculars, and small telescopes 2
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Exploring the Night Sky Course Outline Equipment Student and instructor binoculars and telescopes Location Multi-Media Media Room - OC lodge one observing trip to dark LH site one observing trip to dark Blue Canyon When Wednesday nights 7:00 9:00 PM October 14, 21, 28 Nov 11,18 Nov 11 or 18 Blue Canyon Instructors LHAG Steering Committee members 3
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Exploring the Night Sky Course Outline Session 1 OC lodge - Ron Presentation: Orientation to the Night Sky Viewing: Naked eye Session 2 OC Lodge John Presentation: The Solar System Viewing: more naked eye, binoculars/telescopes for moon, planets Assistance with personal telescopes Session 3 - OC Lodge Ron/Dave Presentation: Telescopes and Binoculars Introduction to Deep Sky Objects Viewing: More naked eye, binoculars, some telescope Assistance with personal telescopes 4
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Exploring the Night Sky Course Outline Session 4 Blue Canyon Ron/All Viewing: Emphasis on Deep Sky Objects with telescopes & binoculars Session 5 - OC Lodge Joel/Dave Presentation: Our Place in the Universe Viewing: Review use of Star charts/ identify objects Assistance with personal binoculars/telescopes 5
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Presented by Ron Olson October 14, 2009 6
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Objectives To learn how the sky moves To learn what kind of objects you can see To learn how to locate objects in the sky using: Star Charts Planispheres Star Hopping 7
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Star Chart Basics Locating North Using a Star Chart Planispheres Star Hopping Tonight s s Observing Plan 8
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Tonight s s Observing Plan 9
How Do Stars Move? Celestial Sphere Stars don t t move (much) Earths orbit around the Sun Sky changes throughout the year 10
Earth Orbit - November Midnight Earth November - 2009 11
Earth Orbit - January Midnight Earth January - 2010 12
How Do Stars Move? Earth s s Rotation Sky changes throughout the day and night North Celestial Pole Polaris the North Star Polaris always in the same location Rising and Setting Circumpolar - never sets Some southern hemisphere stars never rise Others rise in the East, set in the west 13
Star Trails around Polaris W E N 14
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Tonight s s Observing Plan 15
North
Little Dipper Asterisms Big Dipper North
What can I see in the night sky? Stars Asterisms An easily identified grouping of stars Often part of a larger constellation Informal names Constellations Entire sky divided into 88 pieces Each constellation figure is contained within it s constellation boundary Formal names 18
Ursa Minor Constellations Ursa Major North
Little Bear Big Bear North
Ursa Minor Ursa Major N
Ursa Minor Ursa Major N
N
What can I see in the night sky? Stars Asterisms Constellations Zodiac Star Clusters 24
Open Star Cluster Perseus Double Cluster Photo: Sky and Telescope 25
Globular Star Cluster M13 Hercules Cluster 26
What can I see in the night sky? Stars Asterisms Constellations Star Clusters Double Stars 27
Double Star Albireo 28
Alcor/Mizar double star in Ursa Major - Alcor Photo: Sky and Telescope Mizar 29
What can I see in the night sky? Stars Asterisms Constellations Star Clusters Double Stars Moon, planets Nebulae Galaxies Comets 30
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Star Chart Basics Locating North Using a Star Chart Planispheres Star Hopping Tonight s s Observing Plan 31
Where is it in the sky? What direction should I look? North, South, East or West How High in the sky should I look? On the horizon, overhead, halfway up? 32
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Star Chart Basics Locating North Using a Star Chart Planispheres Star Hopping Tonight s s Observing Plan 33
Star Chart Basics Star Charts provide a map of stars and other celestial objects in the sky For specific latitude Drawn for specific dates/times Monthly charts provide sufficient accuracy for most purposes Popular astronomy magazines have monthly centerfold Star Charts 34
More Star Charts Planets/Moon Planets at mid-month month position Moon at specific dates Only planets in good viewing position shown Sky & Telescope website Bi-Monthly Star Charts can be printed Online Star Charts 35
Dusk in late Oct 9 PM in early Oct
How to use Star Charts Basic Star Chart Orientation Outside edge is horizon Center is the zenith (directly overhead) 37
Directly Overhead (Zenith) Horizon
How to use Star Charts Basic Star Chart Orientation Outside edge is horizon Center is the zenith (directly overhead) Orient chart with direction you are facing at the bottom (azimuth) Distance above the horizon towards the center is the height (altitude) Halfway between horizon (edge) and center of chart is halfway between horizon and directly overhead in the sky 39
Direction (Azimuth) Height (Altitude) S
Directly Overhead Direction Height Facing South Halfway Up
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Star Chart Basics Locating North Using a Star Chart Planispheres Star Hopping Tonight s s Observing Plan 42
What direction is North? Facing North East is on your right - where the sun rises West is on your left Polaris, the North Star is of you - where the sun sets is directly in front 43
W Polaris the North star The Big Dipper N
What direction is North? Finding Polaris Height above horizon always equals your latitude 40 for Sacramento area Approximately ½ way above the horizon Pointer from the end of the Big Dipper Pointer from the middle of Cassiopeia Note: a compass points to magnetic north, not true north 45
North
Polaris the North star Cassiopea Little Dipper Big Dipper North
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Star Chart Basics Locating North Using a Star Chart Planispheres Star Hopping Tonight s s Observing Plan 48
How do I find The Summer Triangle? Locate the asterism The Summer Triangle on the Star Chart 49
The Summer Triangle Deneb Vega Altair S
How do I find The Summer Triangle? What direction do I look? Rotate the Star Chart so that the horizon below The Summer Triangle is at the bottom West Face the direction at the bottom of the chart (West) 51
Deneb Altair Vega W
How do I find The Summer Triangle? How high do I look? Estimate approximately how high The Summer Triangle is above the horizon A little below the zenith (directly overhead) Look West above the horizon almost directly overhead 53
Zenith W
W
What will I actually see? Naked Eye View Starry Night program shows view similar to what your eye will see with your naked eye Real sky view will be similar but much larger 56
Facing West 9:00 PM Summer Triangle 3 Constellations 57
Cygnus Lyra Aquila W
W
Deneb Summer Triangle Altair Vega W 60 9:00 PM
Cygnus Aquila Lyra W 61 9:00 PM
Northern Cross W 62 9:00 PM
W 63 9:00 PM
Facing West 9:00 PM Summer Triangle Bright stars Vega, Deneb,, Altair Constellations Cygnus, Lyra, Aquila 64
Facing South 9:00 PM Jupiter 65
Jupiter 9:00 PM S 66
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Star Chart Basics Locating North Using a Star Chart Planispheres Star Hopping Tonight s s Observing Plan 67
Date Time of Day (standard time)
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Star Chart Basics Locating North Using a Star Chart Planispheres Star Hopping Tonight s s Observing Plan 69
Big Dipper Arc to Arcturus Spike to Spica W 70
Observing Tips Start at sunset Look for brightest stars to appear first Look West early, East later Everything looks much larger in the real sky The Moon New or 3rd Qtr Moon best for dim objects Check the paper for moon phase/rise/set times Looks great in binoculars! More accurate Star Charts Set for desired date and time Online at Sky and Telescope/Night Sky magazine website Monthly charts include planets Planispheres 71
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Topics: Star motion What kinds objects can you see? Where is it in the sky? Tonight s s Observing Plan 72
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Tonight s s Observing Plan Finding the North Star The Big Dipper Cassiopeia Little Dipper The Summer Triangle Vega, Deneb,, Altair Constellations - Lyra,, Cygnus, Aquila Jupiter 73
Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group Orientation to the Night Sky Tonight s s Observing Plan More Bright Stars Alcor/Mizar (double star) Arcturus (Arc to Arcturus) More Constellations Sagittarius Bootes Hercules Pegasus The Great Square Andromeda 74
End of Presentation
What can I see in the night sky? Stars Asterisms Constellations Star Clusters Double Stars Star Colors 76
What can I see in the night sky? Star Colors Color corresponds to temperature Blue Red Orange White Yellow 77
What can I see in the night sky? Star Colors Color corresponds to temperature Hotter Temperature Cooler 78
What can I see in the night sky? Star Colors Color corresponds to temperature Blue White Yellow Orange Red Hotter Temperature Cooler 79
What can I see in the night sky? Magnitude Apparent magnitude Absolute magnitude 80
What can I see in the night sky? Apparent Magnitude Apparent magnitude (as you see it in the sky) m This is the same as the brightness of the star Magnitude Scale Hipparchus invented the scale The first stars that came out at night were 1 st magnitude stars, the next set of set were 2 nd magnitude and so forth to 6 th 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brightest Faintest 81
What can I see in the night sky? Modern Magnitude Scale Scale formalized in mid 1800s A difference of 5 magnitudes = 100 times in brightness This means 1 magnitude = 2.512 Difference of 2 magnitudes = 6.25 ; 3 mags= = 16; 4 mags = 40 Scale expanded in both directions Stars brighter than 1, fainter than 6 Brightest -2-11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 faintest Decimal magnitudes used too (e.g. 3.4, 4.5, -1.4) Dimmest star you can see without telescope ~ 6 82
Zodiac animation
What direction is North? Polaris N Sun sets on your left W E Sun rises on your right S 85