Welcome to Astronomy! Now get out.

Hello friends.

Some time this weekend, do try to get outside and find the following objects (with the aid of your starchart).  Go to skymaps.com, if you need a new chart.

Here's the challenge.

Find these objects:

Big Dipper
Little Dipper
Polaris
Summer Triangle
Great square of Pegasus
Cassiopeia
Teapot (in Sagittarius)

Try to find the answers to the these questions (online):

How many constellations are there?
What are common asterisms?
What is the Northern Cross?

Enjoy!


http://skymaps.com/

This is a great place to go for free monthly star charts. This will give you really good, but approximate skyviews for nearly all uses. We will see later how to generate custom sky charts.

See also:

http://www.sunrisesunset.com/

to find out times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset - customized for your city.

For next class, investigate the celestial sphere. Bring a decent image or two.