Astronomy! Stars You Can See From Your Own Backyard
Hey guys! For those of you who don't know, Sarah LOVES stargazing. Like seriously, when she gets bored she makes very nerdy power points on star facts and has a program on her laptop that shows all of the facts and celestial bodies of the known universe. She knows her moon phases by heart.
Today she wishes to share her constellation knowledge with all of you! ^_^
The one star everyone knows is the North Star. It's apart of the Big Dipper, it's in the Archer, and everyone thinks it's made up of one star. >.< The North Star, who's real name is Polaris is actually made up of TWO stars, Polaris A and Polaris B. It's the 45th brightest star in the night sky. Polaris B is behind Polaris A (well, by a few hundred light years ;) ) which is why it appears to be so bright.Just thought I would clarify this common misconception.
Whether you live in the city or out in the country, there's always a constellation or star you can see in the sky. Yes, its harder to see if you're in the city, but Sarah once went stargazing in Boston, er um, she went to the Science Museum in Boston and they had a special thing where they showed you all the constellations and stars you can actually see from Boston.I highly recommend going to see that special exhibit.
You don't need a fancy telescope to see these things either, unless you really want to use a telescope. The naked eye will be able to detect most if not all of these constellations. It's great to do on a summer night. The best time to stargaze is when the moon is in waning crescent, waxing crescent, new moon, and third quarter. Basically all the phases where the moon gives off the least amount of light. The less moonlight interference, the easier it is to see the constellations.
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/index.html
Moon Phases: http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon
Constellation Maps: http://www.stargazing.net/david/constel/skymapindex.html
Happy stargazing!
~SarChi
Today she wishes to share her constellation knowledge with all of you! ^_^
The one star everyone knows is the North Star. It's apart of the Big Dipper, it's in the Archer, and everyone thinks it's made up of one star. >.< The North Star, who's real name is Polaris is actually made up of TWO stars, Polaris A and Polaris B. It's the 45th brightest star in the night sky. Polaris B is behind Polaris A (well, by a few hundred light years ;) ) which is why it appears to be so bright.
Whether you live in the city or out in the country, there's always a constellation or star you can see in the sky. Yes, its harder to see if you're in the city, but Sarah once went stargazing in Boston, er um, she went to the Science Museum in Boston and they had a special thing where they showed you all the constellations and stars you can actually see from Boston.
You don't need a fancy telescope to see these things either, unless you really want to use a telescope. The naked eye will be able to detect most if not all of these constellations. It's great to do on a summer night. The best time to stargaze is when the moon is in waning crescent, waxing crescent, new moon, and third quarter. Basically all the phases where the moon gives off the least amount of light. The less moonlight interference, the easier it is to see the constellations.
Moon Phases:
Also, peak stargazing times vary per region and time of year, so if you're looking for a specific one, be sure to look up its peak viewing times for your region.
Other spacey stargazing resources:
Moon Phases: http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon
Constellation Maps: http://www.stargazing.net/david/constel/skymapindex.html
Happy stargazing!
~SarChi
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