Post on 23-Dec-2015
TAAS Fabulous Fifty
Photo Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
Friday May 8, 2015
1930 MDT (7:30 pm)
All TAAS and other new and not so newastronomers are invited
Ursa Major
Evening Events
7:30 pm – Meet inside Dee’s house for overview of winter sky.
8:30 pm – View night sky outside.
9:00 pm – Social session inside Dee’s house.
10:00 pm – Optional additional viewing outside.
1. Provide new astronomers a list of 50 night sky
objects that can locate with the naked eye.
2. A list that will showcase the night sky for an entire year.
3. A list that the beginning astronomer will remember from one observing session to the next.
4. A list that once observed will be the basis for knowing the night sky well enough to perform more detailed observing.
Objectives
1. Divide the observing activities into the four
seasons: a. winter –Jan-Feb-Mar b. spring –Apr-May-Jun c. summer – Jul-Aug-Sep d. fall –Oct-Nov-Dec
2. Begin with the bright and easy to locate and identify stars and associated constellations.
3. Add the other constellations for each season.
Photo Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
Methodology
Boötes
4. Add a few naked eye Messier Objects.
5. Include planets as a separate observing activity.
6. Include the Moon as a separate observing activity.
7. Include meteor showers as separate observing
activity.
Methodology (cont.)
Photo Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
M 44 “The Beehive”
Constellations Stars Messier Object
Ursa Major Dubhe
Merak
Leo Regulus M 44 “The Beehive”
Boötes Arcturus M 3
Spring
The Messier objects are a set of over 100 astronomical objects first listed by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771.
Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets, so he compiled a list of them in collaboration with his assistant Pierre Mechain, to avoid wasting time on observing them.
The number of objects in the catalog is currently 110.
The Messier objects are the first deep space objects (outside of our solar system) that amateur astronomers will attempt to observe after observing the moon and the planets.
All of the Messier objects are visible in small telescopes and many are observable in binoculars.
A few are visible to the naked eye.
What Are the Messier Objects (M)?
Star Charts
• Free on-line
http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html
Tonight’s process
1. We will first look at a “free” Skymap.
It can be downloaded at
http://skymaps.com/
2. Then we will examine each constellation and its bright star(s) in detail.
3. Observe outside.
The Evening Sky Map
We will examine how to best use the Sky Map
We begin by locating the four cardinal directions:
a. South
b. North
c. East
d. West
Next we will learn how to hold or “orient”the Sky Map as we observe.
It is very simple.
As you observe, you hold the chart
so that the direction that you are looking
is at the bottom of the chart.
We will now use the Evening Sky Map to find some objects in the night sky.
This lesson will use the Northern Hemisphere May Sky Map
The Spring Skymap
Hold your Skymap
with EAST on the bottom
and view to the EAST.
Leo
Boötes
Ursa Major
Star hopping to find objects
1. Learning how to move from a know object
to an unknown object.
2. Looking for “geometric situations”
half-way between two visible stars is the object I want to view
Spring
Photo Courtesy of N
aoyuki Kurita
Constellation
Ursa Major
“the Big Bear”
Two bright stars
Dubhe
Merak
North Star“POLARIS”
Pointers to theNorth Star
Two stars of the bowl always point to Polaris (north)
Spring
Photo Courtesy of N
aoyuki Kurita
Constellation
Ursa Major
“the Big Bear”
Two bright stars
Dubhe
Merak
BUT this photo is actually just an ASTERISM
North Star“POLARIS”
Pointers to theNorth Star
A prominent pattern or group of stars,
typically having a popular name
but smaller than a constellation.
Asterism
The Big Dipper is
NOT a constellation
it is an asterism.
The constellation is called “URSA MAJOR.”
The asterism is called “THE BIG DIPPER.”
The constellation called URSA MAJOR
Spring
Photo Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
Constellation
Leo
“the Lion”
Bright star
Regulus
“The backward question mark”
This constellation actually “LOOKS LIKE” a lion.
The Spring Naked Eye MESSIER OBJRCT Next to Leo
M 44 Open Cluster called “The Beehive”
M 44 The BEEHIVE
The SpringNaked Eye Messier Object is
M 44 in the
constellation
CANCER
“the crab”
Photo Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
Star Hopping to M 44 “the BEEHIVE”
It is “near” Leo in the dim constellation Cancer
Constellation
Cancer
is a dim constellation
between LEO and
GEMINIA winter FAB 50 constellation
Star Hopping to M 44 “the BEEHIVE”
Draw a line from
Regulus in LEO
to
Pollux in GEMINI
M 44 is about ½ way
between the two stars.
Spring
Photo Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
Constellation
Bootes
(bow-OH-tease)
“the herdsman”
Bright star
Arcturus
Arcturus has a visual magnitude of −0.04,
making it the brightest star north
of the celestial equator,
and the fourth brightest star in the night sky.
ARCTURUS
in
Bootes
Magnitude (brightness)Sky Lesson 5.1
*
Magnitude (brightness) (cont.)Sky Lesson 5.3
The “bigger” the dot the brighter the star
Arc to Arcturus
Follow the
handle of
the BIG DIPPER
and “arc”
to Arcturus
You just “star hopped” from the Big Dipper to Arcturus
Spring
A very BIG star
A SMALL star
ArcturusPhoto Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
So, how BIG is Arcturus?
How many EARTHS will fit into ARCTURUS?
109 EARTHS will fit into the SUN.
17,500 SUNS will fit into ARCTURUS.
Therefore, 1,900,000 EARTHS fit into ARCTURUS. 1.9 million
Arcturus is a “BIG” Star
This summer we will look at even BIGGER star, ANTARES.
186 million miles
The Spring MESSIER OBJRCT near Boötes
M 3 Globular Cluster
Finding M 3
Cor Caroli
Arcturus
Draw line from Cor Caroli to Arcturus
Go aboutmid-point
Then just a“little bit” more
M3
Spring
TAAS Fabulous 50 (cont.)
Stars Constellations Messier Regulus Leo M 44 (actually in Cancer)
Arcturus Bootes (bow-OH-tease) M 3
Dubhe Ursa Major
Merak
Cancer M 44
Photo Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
Leo
The Spring Skymap
Leo
Bootes
Hold your Skymap
with EAST on the bottom
and view to the EAST.
Ursa Major Leo
Boötes
Gemini
Ursa Minor
Auriga
Canis Major
Canis Minor
Orion
Taurus
Cassiopeia
Review of the Winter Sky
Review of Winter Sky
Looking West on Friday May 8, 2015 at 9 pm
AurigaCapella
OrionBetelgeuse
GeminiCastorPollux
Canis MajorSirius
Canis MinorProcyon
Review of the Spring Sky
Leo
Boötes
Ursa Major
Photos Courtesy of Naoyuki Kurita
The End