Physical Science 206

Naked Eye/Binocular Observing

This is the first outside, with-the-class, lab.  

• We will meet in the regular lab room at dusk.  (Or time and place specified in class.)
• There is a limit of 30 people each evening. You must go to one of these, but you must sign up for the specific evening.  
• If you sign up and fail to show up, it is not fair to those who couldn't sign up, so I will deduct 2 points from your grade for this lab.
• Be sure to bring a pencil or pen.
• Bring your star and planet finder.
• Bring binoculars if you have them.
• Wear warm enough clothes - the temperature can drop quickly when the sun sets!

For the evening lab you should bring a Page printed from your Starry Night Pro software.  (Skychart III is the old program.  Help with installing and running the SkyChart III software is at the bottom of this page.)  

The printed page should show:

• Correct date and time. (We are -7 hours from Greenwich.)
• "180 degree view" towards the South horizon.
• Black stars on white background.
• "Landscape" view.

You will be asked to write down on the back of this page the things that you saw through the binoculars.

In addition to the binocular objects, these are just a few things we will try to find in the sky.

Places - these are out all the time.

Zenith
Meridian
Celestial Equator
Ecliptic
Zodiac
North Celestial Pole
Milky Way

Planets - depending on the semester, these might be out.

Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Venus

Mercury

Late Summer Constellations

Bootes
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Lyra

Late Summer Stars

Arcturus
Antares

Fall Constellations

These are some bright ones:
Cygnus (with star Deneb)
Lyra (with star Vega)
Aquila (with star Altair)
Ursa Major (with star Mizar)
Cassiopeia

These are not quite so bright:
Pegasus (Great Square)
Andromeda (with M31 The Galaxy)
Hercules (with M13 The Globular Cluster)
Ursa Minor (with star Polaris)
Cepheus
Perseus
Draco

Fall Stars

Deneb
Vega
Altair
Mizar
Fomalhaut
Polaris

Some Fall Binocular Objects

M13 - globular cluster in Hercules
M22 - globular cluster in Saggitarius
M7 - open cluster in Scorpio
M8 - lagoon nebula
Mizar - double star in Ursa Major

Winter Constellations (East) Winter Stars Notes
 

Remember the Winter Hexagon Stars: RACCPPS (going counter-clockwise from Rigel)
Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, (Castor, Pollux), Procyon, Sirius
Really Average Cows Can Peel Potato Skins

Some Winter Binocular Objects

M31 - galaxy in Andromeda
M42 - nebula in Orion
M45 - Pleiades
Double cluster in Cassiopeia
Mizar - double star in Ursa Major

Help with Starry Night Pro

This program is extremely intuitive

Help with SkyChart III

(these are instructions for the "old" program that came with the text)

Use the SkyChart III software that comes with your textbook on a CDROM.  It is fast and easy to install on your home computer.  You may also find it useful after the course is over, for making star charts for any night and for anywhere on Earth.

[If you do not have your own computer, you can install it on a Fort Lewis lab computer.  When you run the SkyChart III install program from the CD, you will be asked for an administrator password; at this point click the option above, to install only for your computer account, so you won't need the administrator password.  Follow the installation instructions, and install in the directory it defaults to.  If it tells you that there is already a copy there, and asks if you want to re-install anyway, say yes.]

Once you have SkyChart installed, run the program and complete the following steps.

SkyChart will automatically know what day & time it is, if your computer time & date are set properly, but it needs to know where you live.  In the "computation" menu, choose "location," and enter new information:  "Durango", longitude "107 53 0 W" (note the spaces!), latitude "37 15 0 N," altitude "1985.0" meters, and time zone "-7" hours.  Click on "add to list" and then on "use as here".  Once you're done with this dialog box, the "viewed from" section at the bottom left of your screen should correctly list Durango.

From the "view" menu, choose "projection," then "Mollweide," and then from the "view" menu, choose "center horizon" and then "zenith" (which means straight up).  These choices allow you to view the entire sky on one map.  Page Up and Page Down keys will zoom you in and out.

From the "draw" menu, choose "symbols and grids."  This will open up a dialog box.  In here, select "draw grid lines," then select "ecliptic" (a line along which all the planets will appear), then select "galactic equator" (where the Milky Way glow can be seen), and deselect "draw RA/dec grid."  Under "draw planets," choose "draw as symbols."  Say "OK" to see the result.  Then, you may return to the "symbols and grids" box if you want to make any other changes.