enjoying the night sky. horizon and zenith stars and constellations

Enjoying the Night Sky

Horizon and Zenith

Stars and constellations

Zodiac Constellations

Astrophotography

All you need:•Single lens reflex camera on tripod•Cable shutter release•F-stop on smallest number•Focus to infinity•Fast film (at least 400 speed)•or set digital camera to 400

Aim the camera, and hold shutter open for •10-30 seconds for constellations•As long as you want for star-trails

Star-trails

Circumpolar star-trails

Why the trails?

Sagitarrius and Milky Way: 30 second exposure

Wandering Stars: the planets• The ancients knew of seven objects

that wandered through the stars (the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). They called these wanders the “planets” (from the Greek for wanderer).

• All of these objects are visible with the naked eye.

Sky at a Glance

skyandtelescope.com

The Moon

Earth and MoonCompared

Distance? 30 Earths

Phases of the Moon

Eclipses of the Moon

• A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into the shadow of the Earth.

• The lunar eclipse is visible to everyone on the night side of the Earth.

• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) used the apparent shape of the Earth’s shadow to show that the Earth is a sphere.

Lunar Eclipse

Lunar Eclipse

Lunar Eclipse Showing Earth’s Shadow

Next total lunar

eclipse: December 21, 2010

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/

http://mreclipse.com

Meteors

Orionids,2009Predicted Maximum: October 21

Moon: Waxing Crescent (no interference)

WHEN TO WATCH: From about 1:00 am until twilight gets too bright, from October 20 - October 22.

20-25 meteors/hour

Leonids, 2009Predicted Maximum: November 17, ~21:00 UT (= Nov. 17, 4:00pm EST)

Moon: New Moon (no interference)

WHEN TO WATCH: North American observers should especially try to cover the morning of Tuesday, November 17.

100-500 Leonids per hour!

Spacecraft (satellites)

InternationalSpace Station

http://www.heavens-above.com

Armchair astronomy

• Podcasts• Blogs!• Websites/ News feeds:

– Astronomy Today– IYA

• Twitter

National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, WVNational Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, WV

www.gb.nrao.eduwww.gb.nrao.eduwww.gb.nrao.eduwww.gb.nrao.edu