If you'll never get a telescope . . .

( If this is your first time on this blog, please look over on the right.  There is a list of my older posts. Please start at the beginning (February 5) for my "Welcome Page" -- where it will tell you how to get a Star Map -- so you can start finding constellations.  {:-) 

If you'll never get a telescope . . .
 Some of us will never be able to get a telescope.  Telescopes don't fit into every life style or budget.  You might be a kid, and kids can't usually afford them.  And, that is why I made this blog.  Though we will talk about telescopes from time to time, I have made this blog for those who don't have them.  I just want you, if its your desire, to become familiar with the constellations above you -- so you can tell your friends and neighbors (if you're a kid); or show your kids, or grand kids, if you're an adult. 

When I began learning about Astronomy, I was SO GLAD to learn that there are only 88 constellations up there --- and --- none of us ever sees all of them --- so you'll never have to learn them all! (unless you are a real Astronomer who travels all over the world).  I live in the Northern Hemisphere (in North America), so I never see the southern sky.  My dearest friend lives in Australia, and another lives in New Zealand.  They only see a few things that I see. 

Also, the Sun and planets all follow the same path through the sky.  That path is called the ECLIPTIC.  The ecliptic goes through only 13 constellations---twelve of those constellations are known as the ZODIAC. 
Some people prefer to only learn those 12 constellations, plus Orion and the Big Dipper---that way they can find the planets, as they come around through the year.  Right now, Jupiter is in the head of TAURUS.  If you do have a telescope, this is the time to look at it and see it's 4 visible moons; because, Taurus is quickly moving away to the Northwest, and will soon be gone for the year. 
Though the picture here on the right, is actually showing the path of the Moon (last February), it was the only picture I could find that shows Jupiter---in relationship to the eye of Taurus.  But it is a good picture to help us notice that the Moon and the planets follow the same path (the ECLIPTIC).

   

           credit: Google Images

 

                          If you don't have a Telescope, Jupiter looks like this:    :-)

Credit: Google Images 

Kids, there is a fun way to remember Jupiter's moons --- from the closest to the farthest: The moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.  A funny sentence to remember those is: "I Eat Green Catepillars."  "I - Io / Eat - Europa / Green - Ganymede / Catepillars - Callisto."

Adults, it works for us too!  Sometimes, when looking at Jupiter through a telescope, We'll only see 3 moons---that is because a moon can be behind (or even in front of) Jupiter.  In the very strong telescopes, if a moon is in front of Jupiter, they can often see the shadow of that moon on the tops of Jupiter's clouds.

Ganymede and Io with their shadows on Jupiter . . .  Ganymede is the largest moon in our Solar System, and Io is the most volcanic moon in our Solar System.

Io, just a little larger than our moon, Luna . . .



  

Back to the subject of this post---"if you know that you will NEVER get a telescope", I have become aware of the most awesome binoculars to tell you about.  An Astronomy Club friend brought one of these binoculars to a "star party" last month; and "Orion's Nebula" looked more amazing through those binoculars than through any telescope I have ever used!  I now have them on my "Bucket List!"  They are worth saving for, and most binoculars this powerful cost $100's more.  These are now on sale.    Binocular Link  If you find that you can't hold them still, they are made where you can attach them to a tripod. 

For those of you who have no binoculars or telescopes, I want to leave you with a picture of Orion's Nebula . . . (and pictures are always better than what we can see with our eyes), because cameras are more sensitive than our eyes, and they can see the colors of the various gases that are found in gassy nebulas. (actually "nebulae").  Even with telescopes, we can only see things in black, white and grays. 

      

The most amazing images of the Orion's Nebula . . . (and of everything else that has been found out in our Universe), can be found on the Hubble Telescope website. 

<--  The link to that website is right here on this site --- here on the left, under my story.  You'll also find the links to get Sky Charts; and the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" there.

SOME HISTORY and MODERN TECHNOLOGIES

( If this is your first time on this blog, please look over on the right. There is a list of my older posts. Please start at the beginning (February 5) for my "Welcome Page" -- where it will tell you how to get a Star Map -- so you can start finding constellations. {:-)

SOME HISTORY and MODERN TECHNOLOGIES

In ancient times, there were no street lights.  The skies were brilliant--except of course when the Moon was bright.  People studied the stars and constellations, and learned a great deal about them.  The ancient stargazers had wonderful dark skies! 

Around the early 1900's, even in large cities like New York, people could look up and see the Milky Way.  People in their 50's and 60's, etc. can tell you about it!  They didn't have the street lights that we have. 

Without air pollution and “light pollution” from all of our street lights, billboard lights, bright cities, airports, parking areas, and sports arenas, the Moon etc., it would have been an astronomer's dream.

But, if you are interested in the sky, you might have some technology that will really help you and it is awesome—it is the technology of Smart Phones and iPads.  Why?  Because they have GPS in them! With several of the Astronomy Apps (like the inexpensive Star Walk app for Apple products), you can hold your iphone up to the sky, and see exactly what constellations and planets and stars you are looking at!  Ten years ago, this was impossible!  When my Astronomy Club has Star Parties in the desert, many people use their smartphone apps.  Many people have been starting astronomy hobbies because of these phones.  When you look up at a bright star that you wonder about, you can open up one of these app-programs—and hold a Smart Phone up towards the sky—and learn what you are looking at.  It's amazing!
Another amazing app from Apple is the Orion StarSeek Astronomy app.  They offer three different levels of this app.  The first level costs about $10.  The other 2 levels contain the ability to control an astronomer's expensive, computerized telescopes. These are much more expensive apps.   

The Android phones with GPS have some similar apps and shouldn't be too hard to find.

An Asteroid passed by

( If this is your first time on this blog, please look over on the right. There is a list of my older posts. Please start at the beginning (February 5) for my "Welcome Page" -- where it will tell you how to get a Star Map -- so you can start finding constellations. {:-) 
 

• I put a lot of information on this page for those of you who want to research about this; but for those who don't want to learn that much about it --- you might just enjoy the 2 links so you can see the ASTEROID, and the METEORITE.  There is a third link by NASA about what they have learned about the meteorite since then.

News
On Friday, Feb. 15, an Asteroid passed by us. 
It was 150 yards long, which is half the size of a football field (300 yds.) 
Asteroids are much like comets, except they don't contain gases that glow when they get near the Sun, like comets do---so they don't make tails. Also, many asteroids come from the Asteroid Belt---which is a huge circle of giant boulders that encircle an area between Mars and Jupiter.  They have their own orbit which they follow, just as Mars and Earth do.  There are about 750,000 asteroids in the Asteroid Belt, and millions more just out there orbiting our Sun.  Some are almost 600 miles long. 

Credit: Google images

Some times asteroids bump into each other, which changes their orbits---and they can then fly in a different direction.  That is probably what happened to the asteroid that passed by us this week. 

Comets, on the other hand, don't come from the Asteroid Belt.  They come from way out in space---past the orbit of Pluto.  And, they seem to come into our Solar System for one purpose---and that is to go around the Sun; and then they travel back out into far-away space.  Some of them come back every few years; and some are never seen again.  Their tails aways face away from the Sun. 

Credit: 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. 

But, side by side, asteroids and comets can look very much alike.   
Here is a video of the asteroid that passed us last Friday: Asteroid link

On the same day, an unexpected Meteorite hit Russia. 

A meteor is an asteroid or other natural space object (not man-made) that burns up and vaporizes upon entry into the Earth's atmosphere; commonly known as "shooting stars." If a meteor makes it to the surface, it's known as a meteorite.

The one that hit Russia a few weeks ago, exploded in the air before the biggest part hit the ground.  The explosion sent shock waves through the air, and 1,000's of windows were blown out of buildings because of it; and parts of several buildings collapsed.  Many people (at least 1,200 people) were cut because of the flying glass.  Others were knocked over and hurt.  Many are still hospitalized.  Before the explosions from the shock waves hit, there was a huge, prolonged flash of light--called a "fire ball."  Pictures of it's light were captured from many dash-cams and security cameras.  It took several minutes for the shock waves to travel through the air and reach the town.  They say that it's explosion was equal to 20 times the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in the 1940's.  There are many small pieces of the meteorite that have been found on the ground since then.  Many people are looking for them, because they are very valuable.  One link that I read said that some pieces are as valuable as gold.
Here is a video of that Meteorite and the flash from it's explosion--from several different cameras: Meteorite link

Thousands of small pieces have fallen in a 60+ mile radius of where it exploded in the sky.  Large pieces have yet to be found . . .

Debris field

                                                               

 

Moment of explosion -- like 20 A-bombs   

 

Since that day, NASA has learned a few more things about the meteorite.
 

 

More recent meteorite video

Welcome!

     This is a blog for beginning stargazers, both young and old, who don't have a telescope--but who just want to become familiar with the sky. Or, you might have a telescope, but not know what to look at.  From time to time, we'll talk about telescopes, but there is much to learn about the sky even without them. People of ancient times were very knowledgeable about the sky, and they had no telescopes.

      * Star Maps are the first things you need to help you in learning about the sky. On the "Sky Maps" link below, you can scroll down in the middle section (down below the “Donate section”), and find the PDF’s of the Evening Sky Maps. Right under the month (April right now), you will see "download."  Print them out and they are good for the whole month.

     The charts are for the Northern, Southern Hemispheres, and for the Equatorial areas on Earth. Depending on which hemisphere you live in, pick the present month in your hemisphere, download it, and print it out.       Sky Maps Link

     You can take these printouts outside with you, and can begin finding things in the sky. Find the darkest, safest place you can to view the sky. The largest “black dots” on the maps correspond to the brightest stars in the sky. Be sure to pay attention to the north, south, east, west, markings on the star maps—to align yourself with the sky. Jupiter is in the skies these days. Your Star Maps will show you where it is. It's beautiful and bright! With a small telescope, you can see it's four little moons. It is in the constellation: Taurus the Bull. The Bull is up to the right of Orion.

   Starting out, the best things to have are warm clothes, a Star Map, a lounge chair and a little red flash light to help you see your star map. (Red light is the only color light that won't constrict the pupils of your eyes, which messes up "night-vision." If you can't find a red flash light, buy one of those tiny key flash lights, and color the front of it with red marks-a-lot.)          

 

     Orion the Hunter (credit: Yahoo images)

                                         

    Winter is a great time to begin in Astronomy . . . The crisp air helps the sky stay still and clear. The winter constellations are the brightest, and therefore the easiest to learn. Orion, the Hunter, is the easiest winter constellation to recognize. For those of you who have binoculars or scopes, you can see the famous Orion's Nebula, like a cloud, in his sword which hangs down from his belt. His left shoulder is the famous star Betelgeuse (sounds like Beetlejuice. :-)

The first constellations to learn in winter are:

1. Orion the Hunter

2. Canis Major, the Big Dog (left and down from Orion)

3. Canis Minor, the Little Dog (left and up from Orion)

4. Gemini, the Twins (up and slanted left from Orion's upper arm

5. Taurus, the Bull (right and up from Orion)

    *Remember to find the "Pleiades" cluster on the Bull's shoulder [Plee-a-dees]

6. Auriga, the Charioteer (up and off to the right of the Bull's right horn) [Are-eye-ga]

and if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, add:
7. Carina, the Keel of the Ship.
8. Eridanus, the River (begins at Orion's right knee.)
9. Centaurus, the Centaur.
10. Crux, the Southern Cross.
     Learn one or two each night so you won't get overwhelmed.  Most of these are bright constellations and easy to find---and they are a well-known group.  They have all have at least one bright star in them.  Mark them on your Sky Charts before you go out to look at the sky.  The constellations around them are not as bright unless you live where there are very dark skies.                    ______________

 

     If you are able to get some binoculars, most Astronomy books recommend that adult beginners start with binoculars with 10x50 magnification. The first number tells you how much magnification it has, and the second number tells you how wide the front ends are -- which indicates how much light they gather. A beginning pair will cost between $25 - $40 at Wal-mart or a sporting goods store (if you are on a small budget.) Of course, there are better ones that cost much more. Higher prices mean better optics.

But, these are too heavy for a child to hold steady. Small children need some with 8x21 magnification, or a larger child could use one with 10x25 magnification.
     Both adults and children need to practice adjusting the spacing of the two sides of their binoculars. People's eyes are not the same distance apart. Sometimes, you need to spread the two sides of the binoculars out farther--or sometimes move them closer together--until you see a normal circle in your view.  But, even without binoculars, you can STILL "learn the sky."   :-)