Night Sky Journal
Night Sky Journal
During the quarter, you are required to keep a journal of your Night Sky viewing.
Weather permitting, you should view the sky at night at least once a week
throughout the term. You will turn in your journal entries twice during the term.
The first submission will be around the middle of the term (see syllabus) with the
completed journal due during the last week of the term.
Please use a star map or star finder (planisphere) to facilitate locating
constellations in the night sky. Directions on using a star finder can be found on
this instructional video.
For each journal entry, include:
1. The date and time
2. Location: What is your longitude and latitude?
3. Seeing conditions: How clear is the sky? Is it foggy, partly cloudy, etc. Are you
in the city or a rural setting? What is the light pollution?
4. Locate the Big Dipper and North Star. First, get oriented with the night sky.
Figure out which direction is north, by finding the Big Dipper. The “front” two stars
of the Big Dipper point to the star at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper,
which is Polaris, or the North Star. The Big Dipper rotates around the celestial
north pole through the night, but Polaris is always in the direction of north.
https:
media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_tlhkoso
Image source: http:
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130421.html
Make a note of the orientation of the Big Dipper in the sky. Measure how high
Polaris is in the sky. A convenient way to do this is to hold out your fist at arm’s
length and count how many “fists” lie between the horizon and Polaris. Each fist
is about ten degrees 90 degrees should be straight up. (If you live in the southern
hemisphere, you will orient your viewing similarly, but with respect to the
Southern Cross.)
5. Use the North Star (or Southern Cross) to orient your star finder with respect
to your location.
5. Choose a constellation to follow through the term. Find the constellation on
your star finder, and then locate your chosen constellation in the night sky. Do
this each night that you observe the sky. Note the location and orientation of the
constellation by reporting its direction and inclination angle. Since you have
located north, you should be able to approximate the direction (NNE, NE, ENE,
etc.) and how many degrees above the horizon (inclination angle) your
constellation is located.
6. Locate a second constellation (a different one each time). Similarly report its
location and orientation.
7. Is the moon visible? What is its phase? Report its orientation and location.
8. Give any other details. For example, is the Milky Way visible? What planets
can you locate? Do you see any satellites? Meteor showers?
If you live in a place where you cannot see the night sky well because of light
pollution in a big city, for example, or if you live in a place where it is not safe to
go out at night, you can opt to make your observations using software on your
computer. There are several good varieties of software available. I recommend
using Stellarium. It is free and can be found here: http:
www.stellarium.org/ I
have included some directions on how to use in this instructional video. You can
also use Sta
y Night from http:
astronomy.sta
ynight.com/ or the Google sky
app available at https:
www.google.com/sky/ .
At the end of the term, finish this lab by summarizing what you learned about the
night sky from your observations. Your journal should include at least eight
entries. If you live in a location where cloudy skies are an issue, you may include
observations using software.
http:
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130421.html
http:
www.stellarium.org
https:
media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_tlhkoso
http:
astronomy.sta
ynight.com
https:
www.google.com/sky