Constellation Basics Alastair Leith FRAS
Image credits front cover Constellations screenshot, Starry Night Planetarium Software www.starrynight.com M42: Gareth Harding, Stoke on Trent M45: Gareth Harding, Stoke on Trent Other credits All images unless otherwise stated have been borrowed from the Wikipedia
These short guides are sponsored by Online Astronomy Society Academy which offers courses in Astronomy from the basic to the more advanced Astronomy for Beginners Imaging for beginners (covers use of webcam and DSLR) Kit maintenance Spectroscopy for beginners Cosmology And loads more www.onlineastronomycourses.co.uk We also offer GCSE Astronomy by distance learning Also as they have been helpdul to us it is not free but worth every penny www.starrynight.com Planetarium Software
Look up in the night sky, you will see hundreds if not thousands of stars. Which make all sorts of shapes. The ancients over time started to form groups of stars which we call constellations. There are 88 in total. We cannot see all of these from where we live as some are only visible from the Southern part of the Earth while the rest are only visible from the Northern part of the Earth (typically called the Northern and Southern Hemisphere respectively. Clearly as the Earth goes around the Sun, the Sun light will dazzle the part of the Sky which we would normally see at other times of the year. In fact one way we can know when seasons are coming and going is when we see certain constellations rising sometimes early in the Morning.
Image providerd courtesy of Starry Night www.starrynight.com
Winter Constellations
Winter is the best time to observe the night sky and its constellations. The constellation’s of Orion, Taurus the Bull, and Gemini are very well placed indeed. Orion is well known for its characteristic 7 star pattern which together with the rest of the stars makes up the Hunter. (I have often called it the “bow tie”)
M42 is a could of gas where stars are born. Good in binoculars Image credit, Gareth Harding, Stoke on Trent
imagine courtesy of Wiki
Orion is an ideal constellation to observe with binoculars as you can see Belelgeuse at the top left. A red star which in itself would swallow the solar system up to the orbit of Mars! It is a red giant coming to the end of its life. But it isn’t all doom and gloom, look down to the central start in Orions Belt. Then follow down. See a misty patch? Even with the naked eye you can see M42, otherwise known as the Orion Nebula
Top right of Orion, Meet Taurus the Bull Taurus again is a great constellation for binoculars not a lot different to Orion. Note the small fuzzy object with stars in it? This is M45 what we call an open star cluster. Like M42 it contains new stars which in time will blow the gaseous clouds away like M45 is. These are white hot stars
M45
Hyades
image taken by Gareth Harding, Stoke on Trent Image from the Wiki
Spring Constellations As the weather begins to warm we enter into spring, now the king of the jungle begins to rise. Leo the Lion. Lion is a fantastic constellation to use for star hopping. Leo is also very well known for its galaxies, M65 and M66 which can should just be able to make out with a small telescope. Note you will Not see the structure in a small telescope, larger instruments will be needed for that.
For those looking for more of a challenge there is the Leo Triplet! This is also a reasonable time to maybe observe the Plough (or the great bear) which many may have heard of. But it looks at first glance like a frying pan. The constellation is what we call Circumpolar which means it never sets below the horizon, though that said with varying angles the constellation moves through, it is quite high the sky in Spring so work a note.
Image taken from Starry Night
You could not mention the plough I don’t think and not point out that two stars in it as labelled above (Merak and Dubhe) if you draw an imaginary line through them, you will meet another star. This is polaris. Always look for this star if you are lost. Now look below the tail of the Plough, below it is M51, the Whirlpool spiral. Over 37 million light years away
M51
Small binoculars will show it as a smudge (I used 7x50’s). A small telescope will show a little more detail
Summer Constellations The Summer is never a good time to observe the night sky. Warm nights retain water which in itself makes the conditions for astronomy worse. However with favourable conditions there are still constellations worth a look.
M13 is a very famour flobular cluster in Hercules, see map on the other page (image from the wikipedia
M92
For some reason though this one is often overlooked by amateur astronomers Image from Wikipedia
Autumn Constellations Another constellation VERY recognisable and good for star hopping is the constellation of Pegasus. It is perhaps one of the larger constellations in the night sky especially compared to those we’ve met so far M15 just off the star of Enif (lower right) is another Globular Star cluster. At 12.1 billion years old it is one of the oldest star clusters known. The star cluster itself is on the limit of naked eye visibility. However on favourable conditions its visible as a smudgy patch through binoculars or a small telescope. A larger telescope of 6 inches or above will start to resolve stars.
While we are here lets pop up the left side of Pegasus and Visit Andromeda.
Andromeda Sprial M31 Image courtesy of Gareth Hardning
Close to Andromeda is another small constellation, Triangulum.
Within Triangulum there is a faint galaxy called M33, which is visible through binoculars under favourable conditions. This is one of our nearer neighbours
Perseus Another great constellation for binoculars to tour. Not too far from Taurus you will note. It has the Designation of Caldwell 14. After Sir Patrick Moore Amazing cluster to view with a pair of binoculars
These objects do not represent an exhaustive list of what is visible In the night sky throughout the year. That would require a book in itself. They are however intended as an introduction. Use the main constellations given to star hop and learn new constellations. Get to know the star names and then look at what is in each constellation worth attention with a pair of binoculars. As a boy I always used both in tandem.
Appendix
Messier Catalogue, what is it? Charles Messier (26th June 1730- 12 April 1817) was a French Astronomer who was most notable for compiling the Messier Catalogue. His objective was owing to the fact he hunted comets and got tired of spending countless hours observing “fuzzes” for movement. As such he compiled a catalogue of the main objects so he would not be confused by them in his work. The catalogue is a list of 101 objects which makes an interesting challenge for amateur astronomers to this day So there are loads of these guides on the market, why write another one?
I suppose after many years of being an amateur astronomer myself, teaching the subjects to the mature and young alike as much as i liked many of the texts out there. Like a cook i felt they lacked something. I wanted to write something which answered the basic questions a beginner or more intermediate might have. In an ideal world there would not be pretty images in this book of the objects but sketches to demonstrate to the observer exactly how the objects will look But wait there is an excellent text which already does this called “Turn Left at Orion” This series as discussed in a previous one i wrote on the Moon is a work in progress. Something which i hope as my son who suffers from Asperges Syndrome gets older might find useful I plan to go on greating these for as long as there is interest and a need. I don’t want paying for them, but if you like these you might like the courses we offer at the online astronomy society academy Useful linka Icey Science is a nice blogg site run by Dave Book http://www.icyscience.com/ Also if interested in Astrophotography, this is a very informative free online magazine http://www.amateurastrophotography.net/