Night Sky Watching (Basics)

Like Share Report 137 Views Download Presentation

Night Sky Watching (Basics). Stars Pivot around a Point. The North Celestial Pole (NCP). Special spot on the sky that the Earth’s rotation axis points to Why special? During the night the stars appear to rotate around this spot Also special (and useful) in other ways ….

Updated on Mar 15, 2019

• Kibo Strickland
• + Follow

• stars
• big dipper
• constellation stars
• north star
• called pole star
• night sky watching basics

Download Presentation

Night Sky Watching (Basics)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - E N D - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

• Related
• More by User

The Night Sky - . warm –up . where are the stars and constellations located? draw the earth on it’s axis what is a

Night Sky - . chapter 4. topics. the celestial sphere motion of the sun phases of the moon motion of the stars

Astronomy: Watching the Sky - . a tcnj ccs program. contents. class 1: from astrology to astronomy – the history of

Astronomy: Watching the Sky - . class 2: a trip through the solar system. the solar system. one star – the sun 8 major

Night Sky Ceiling - If you are looking for the night sky,star ceiling, glow ceiling, autistic bedroom, night sky

The Night Sky - . a constellation is a grouping of stars that has a name and forms a pattern . . the word constellation

The Night Sky - . and the celestial sphere. the celestial sphere. the ancients thought the stars were attached to the

The Night Sky - . astronomy, the earth and constellations. astronomy. astronomy – is a branch of science that involves

The Night Sky - . by: nathan, bailey, alyvia and brianna. constellations. there are stars in the sky. stars that form

The Night Sky - . what are constellations? why do we see some in winter, some in summer and some all year long? why do

Night Sky Live! - . all-sky transient detection using the night sky live! network lior shamir & robert j.

The Night Sky - . constellations. 88 official constellations. the constellation orion. the constellation ursa major. the

Night Sky: Space Postcards - . your task: create a postcard. your task is to create 3 postcards about different planets

Introduction: The Night Sky - What do we see in the night sky? the moon moving planets occasional comets and meteors

Sky Zone Fundraiser Night! - . sky zone is teaming up with east penn hs+ms mini thon for every 60 minute jump session or

Lecture 5 – The Night Sky - . what is the connection between what’s in the book and what’s in the sky?. we will

Introduction to the Night Sky - . spring 2007 heart of the valley astronomers. mercury. venus. saturn. encaledus.

Observing the Tuesday night sky - . engage: use the big dipper to find the north star, arcturus , cassiopeia. find summer

Telescopes and the Night Sky - Astronomy - how it was. for hundreds of thousands of years, astronomers had no assistance

Introduction to the Night Sky - Ohio university - lancaster campus slide 1 of 21 spring 2009 psc 100. introduction to

The Night Sky Live Project - . pi: robert j. nemiroff. & the night sky live collaboration. the night sky live

• 1 of 5

Presentation Transcript

1. Night Sky Watching (Basics)

2. Stars Pivot around a Point

3. The North Celestial Pole (NCP) • Special spot on the sky that the Earth’s rotation axis points to • Why special? During the night the stars appear to rotate around this spot • Also special (and useful) in other ways …

4. Watching Stars from the North Pole

5. Constellations are Big

6. Big Dipper: Points to Polaris • http://www.astropix.com/HTML/C_SPRING/URSAS.HTM

7. Finding Polaris

8. Lucky Breaks! • The star Polaris is amazing close to NCP (now) • The “pointer stars” in the Big Dipper line up directly with Polaris!!!! • Big Dipper is circumpolar constellation • See it all night and all year • Polaris also called Pole Star, North Star

9. Big Dipper

10. Why care about finding Polaris? • The direction of Polaris is due North • The angle between Polaris and the horizon is YOUR LATITUDE • How can I measure angles?

12. Big Dipper as Star Guide

13. Constellations

14. Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090627.html • Summer Triangle • http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090912.html • Winter Hexagon • http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021106.html

15. Summer Triangle

16. Winter Hexagon

17. Constellation Facts • Group of stars all in roughly the same direction from Earth, BUT …. Each has its own different distance from the Earth • Therefore, NOT grouped together is space • From Greek astronomers have inherited the names of the constellations: mythological figures or animals • Different cultures on Earth each have different names for the constellations

18. Constellation Stars at Different Distances from Earth

19. Visible Constellations change over a year • May have heard … • “Orion is a winter constellation” • “You can see Cygnus most of the summer” • Above comments arise because you cannot see the Constellations near where the Sun is in the sky • Sun so bright it washes out rest of stars • Since Sun moves along the Ecliptic over a year the constellations “away” from the Sun change over a year.

20. Constellations on opposite side of Sun (Opposition)

21. The Zodiac • Band of constellations closest to the Ecliptic (Sun’s yearly path across the sky) • Correspond to Horoscope “Signs” • Astrology used to make predictions (not science!) • Useful for backyard astronomy: Planets and the Moon can always be found in the Zodiac • Width of the Zodiac belt ~ 18°

24. Mars Saturn Mercury

25. Naming Stars Brightest star in constellation Taurus Greek name: α Taurus Arabic name: Aldebaran “Al Debarren” “The Follower” (of the Pleiades)