Astronomy viewing night transcript
Occultation of Venus. Taken at Tolga. 9-10-15 at 4.00 AM.
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My laser is very bright and should not be pointed at close
objects during the night as reflections can temporary blind you. When using these lasers it is important to
lock them off after use and to remain aware of any aircraft so that you do
not point near them. However, there is
no danger or concern for aircraft from someone using a laser while they are
flying overhead if the laser is pointed a few degrees away from the aircraft
because the light beam is very narrow.
Also, I do not like pointing any lower than an elevation of about 10
degrees. When unlocked be careful not
to accidentally set lasers off. This
can happen if you carry them in your pocket or together with other objects in
your hand. It is important to know how to estimate angles between
objects in the sky as it will help you work out where they are after looking
at star charts. To do this you can
hold your hand 57cm or slightly less than 2 feet in front of your eye. At that point, 1 degree spans a distance of
1cm. It is almost in proportion for
small angles so 15 degrees spans about 15cm at a distance of 57cm from your
eye. Space your fingers to site the
angle. I also invented a tool to do
it. Using trigonometry, it is good to
work out how many degrees your hand span is at arms length. Also, you should know how many degrees there
are in the field of view of your monocular or binoculars as that can help you
estimate angles between objects. It is very important to know where the celestial north and
south poles are so you can work out where objects are in the sky and learn
what they are. Also this helps us to
work out where they appear to move.
You can use these poles to tell the time either day or night. The celestial south pole is directly above
the earth's south pole. If you were at the earth's south pole it would be
vertically above you. It is at an
arbitrary and infinite distance away out in space. Due to circular geometry and the spherical
shape of the earth, the position of the celestial poles will change when you
travel to a different latitude. In the southern hemisphere the celestial
south pole will be above the horizon and the angle of elevation will be equal
to the latitude of the location. It
will always be towards the south. We
are about 17 degrees south so the celestial south pole would be 17 degrees
above the horizon as you can see from the pointer. The celestial north pole is 180 degrees
from the celestial south pole. At our
location it would be 17 degrees below the horizon and to the north. It is important to know that all objects in the sky appear
to rotate around these poles due to the rotation of the earth on its
axis. Just imagine we are at 45
degrees south for a short time. This is so I can safely demonstrate how
objects fully rotate around the pole without shining the laser too low. At 45
degrees south, the celestial south pole would be 45 degrees above the horizon
and I am pointing to it now. An object like a star will remain a constant
angle from the pole and rotate in a circle around it as you can see. Further out the radius will be
greater. The paths I am tracing are
travelling in a celestial west direction.
If something travels in a celestial north direction it travels away
from the celestial south pole. Below
the pole, celestial north will be downward and the Southern Cross will appear
upside down when it is there. Back to
our location where the pole is 17 degrees above the horizon. I am now showing you how a star will move
across the sky throughout the night. (Note less examples in the next
paragraph will be shown on the viewing night.) There are some examples I can show you where two stars or
points in the sky point to the celestial south pole and other star or point
pairs point to the north pole. Others
point close to the pole like the southern cross. It is also good to learn a few examples
because the time and season or clouds can often prevent you seeing most of
them. I am now showing you how to find
the celestial south pole by projecting a line though the top and bottom of
the cross until you reach a point that is 17 degrees above the horizon. The other way is to project the line 27
degrees past the southern star of the cross. You will also arrive at the same
point by drawing a line at right angles to the two pointers. The celestial south pole will be 4 degrees
to the left of this point. South will be directly below it. I will show you another example. Draw a line from Alfa Gruis
(Alnair) through Beta Gruis
and note the angle between them.
Continue the line for half the angle again and select that point. Draw a line from Fomalhaut
though that point and extend the line to an elevation of 17 degrees above the
horizon to find the celestial south pole.
Select Mirzam and draw a line through I am now pointing to the celestial equator which is also
at an arbitrary and infinite distance out in space and is directly above the
earth's equator. The sun appears to
follow its path on the day of the equinox. It is important to know where the ecliptic is because the
planets are always very close to it and it helps you find them. The ecliptic
is the apparent path the sun takes relative to the stars over the coarse of the year. The sun appears to move along it from
west to east doing one circle each year.
This is due to the earth's orbit around the sun. You can find it by identifying certain
stars and constellations that are associated with astrology, star signs and
the zodiac. I am running along the
approximate path now. It passes
through the star Regulus and goes about 2 degrees north of the star
Spica. It passes through the northern
side of the head of the Scorpion. It almost touches the south west corner of
the Triffid Nebula.
This is the exact point where the sun is during the December solstice. Apart from Mercury, the planets remain less than 3 degrees
from the ecliptic and the moon within 5.
Mercury is less than 7. On the
average, they all move from west to east along the ecliptic. However, when
the outer planets are in opposition or on the opposite side of the earth to
the sun, they move in retrograde motion or from east to west for a short time
when the faster earth's orbit overtakes them. This is when these planets are
closest to earth and is the best time to observe them. (I suggest for people to use their monoculars
or binoculars to find the deep sky objects by finding my laser's beam. Many of the below will not be shown on a
viewing night because they cannot be seen.) This is the head of the scorpian. Its heart is Antares,
a red giant star. I am now showing you
the tail followed by the sting. If you
draw a line through the sting for 5˚, you will reach the Ptolemy
Cluster. 4˚ to the northwest of it is the Butterfly Cluster. These are open star clusters where stars
are not closely bound by gravity. I am
now tracing the teapot that is leaning on its side. The base is here. This is the handle and this is the
spout. Select the centre of the base
of the spout and draw a line through the tip of the spout and note the
angle. Extend the line for the same
angle again and you will find the centre of our galaxy. Draw a line from the top of the handle to the
top of the teapot and note the angle.
Extend the line the same angle again and you will be at the Lagoon
Nebula. The Triffid
Nebula is on the northern side and that is where the sun is near on the
December Solstice. Nebula
are areas of gas and dust in space.
The Prawn Nebula is 2˚ north of Grafias
at the bend of the Scorpian. The next reasonably bright star to the
north of that is Mu Scorpii which is a double and
binary star. A globular cluster is a group of stars closely bound by
gravity. You can find the M22 one 2.5˚
northeast of Kaus Borealis, the star at the top of
the Teapot. It is 10000 light years
away. Tucanae
is the second brightest globular cluster in the sky and is near the small Small Magellanic Cloud. To find it, select a point half way between
Achernar and the south celestial pole. The Tucanae
cluster is about 7 degrees to the celestial west of that point. Mirach is the next bright star northeast of
the Great Square of Pegasus. 8˚
northwest of Mirach is the Andromeda Galaxy. At 2.5 million light years away, it is the
most distant object visible to the naked eye. Draw a line though the two stars on the northwestern side of the southern cross and extend the
line 13˚ past the top of the cross.
You will then find Omega Centauri which is the largest and brightest globula cluster in the sky 17,090 light-years away. The Jewel Box is about 1 degree southeast
of Mimosa on the east side of the southern cross. The Carina Nebula is 12˚ (or about two
lengths of the southern cross) from Acrux which is
the southern star of the cross. From Acrux, go at right angles to a line joining the top and
bottom of the cross in a westerly direction The double or binary star Alberio
consists of a blue and orange star and is good to see through a
telescope. To find it, select a point
half way between Vega and Altair. Alberio is 5 degrees east of that point. 61 Cygni is
another binary star. You will find it
by competing a parallelogram that includes the three
brightest stars in Cygnus. The Garnet star in Cepheus is
the most red star the naked eye can see. To find it,
Select Deneb and go slightly east of north for 18˚
to find Alpha Cephei (Alderamin)
which is the brightest star in Cepheus. The Garnet star is 5˚ to the southeast
of that. 4˚ to the east of that
is Zeta Cephei. 2.5˚ east of that is Delta Cephei which is a special star as it is a Cepheid
Variable which astronomers use to determine the distance to galaxies. Algol is an eclipsing binary star. The eclipses cause it to briefly dim about
every 3 days. To find it go to Mirach. The
adjacent star named Almaak is 13˚ to the
northeast. Algol
is 12˚ to the east of Almaak. Algol is also 19˚
north northwest of the Pleiades which is an open
cluster of stars. Algol
also has a smaller star 2˚ south southwest of it. The Orion nebula is spectacular in photographs. It appears near the centre star in what I
liken to the base of the needle of a compass.
I am tracing out what is like the point of the needle now. The needle points 6˚ west of north. The magnetic compass points about 7˚
east of north at our location. Just to
the northeast, Betelgeuse is the largest bright star and is a red giant that
many believe will be the next close supernova. Rigel is also
very large. Aldebaran
is another red giant star. Mira has the largest variation in brightness for a naked
eye star and it has an 11 month dimming cycle. It is part of Cetus. To find it select a point half way between
θ Cet and Menkar
where you will find two faint stars close together. Mira is 2˚ southeast of them. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. Some other impressive constellations I will trace out are
Leo that looks like a LIon, Corvus and Cassiopeia. Please see me for a free paper regarding viewing nights
and also information regarding many projects, new ideas and groups that would
help many people in the community and around the world. Please let me know of anyone that could be
interested. Thank you for listening.
Please see the main
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