Constellations and Bright Stars
Building Your Naked Eye Observing Skills
Summary: Look up! With help from your star dial, charts, friends, classmates, learn and identify stars and constellations in the evening sky by name. Once you identify one constellation, use those stars to guide you to another one nearby.
Needed Supplies: Log book, pencil, star dial, and star maps.
Due Dates: For Fall semester, 2003, the constellation practical will be during the week of October 6. You should have completed five constellation drawings by the October 3 due date. By October 31, the lab should be complete.
Grading: The work suggested here is designed to help you find your way around the sky and to help you get ready for your constellation practical exam (worth 50 points). In addition, your record of observations will be graded as part of your observing log grade.
Goal: You should be able to identify at least 10 constellations and 5 bright stars in the evening sky on any given night. The purpose of sketching constellations is to 1) make a record of your observation that 2) will help you find it again and 3) commit the pattern to your memory. Knowing the constellations is necessary to do several of the naked-eye and telescope labs.
Procedure:
Sketch each constellation in your log, clearly separate each sketch. Try to plot the stars fairly accurately, so your sketch will enable you to find that constellation again. Use bigger dots for brighter stars. Do not attempt to draw a large portion of the sky in one sketch. Each sketch should contain 2-3 constellations. Include an approximate outline of the horizon if the stars you draw are anywhere near it. Include all stars visible in the area of the constellation you are sketching, look for the faint ones! You may see more stars than are plotted on your star charts. Draw only what you see. On a night where the sky is bright, you may not be able to see all the stars you find on a star chart.
If you found this constellation by using another constellation or star or set of stars to "point" you in the right direction, you should include the pointer constellation (or stars) as part of your sketch.
If this constellation has a prominent, named star, identify and label that star (see, e.g., the list of "alpha" stars in the star hopping lab).
Label each sketch with the date, time, place of observation, cardinal point direction(s), a scale for your sketch (in degrees), weather conditions and any other relevant information such as handy reminders ("over the top of the library") or other comments ("constellation is very small," "no bright star so constellation is hard to find," "three bright stars in an equilateral triangle make constellation easy to identify.").
Suggestion:
Review the constellations and stars you have already learned regularly, especially before you learn new ones. You can do this on your own time or during the lab sessions, it only takes a few minutes. When you're outside and it's dark, look up! Find the things you recognize.