Stars suitable for observation

Compiled By: Capt. Sunil Bhabha

The concepts of Twilight and Stellar magnitude should be understood prior going through this topic
for better understanding.
The questions based on this topic can be divided into 5 different types. These different types &
their stepwise solution are explained below.

A. Which stars will be within a certain hour angle of the observer’s meridian
at a given time?
1. Find out the SHA of an imaginary star which is on the observer’s meridian. The SHA of a star
on observer’s meridian can be obtained by keeping LHA Star = 0° or 360°.
2. Add and subtract the hour angle within which stars are to be found. This will give two values
of SHA. Take these values as limits of the SHA & check the stars from the table on page 268
of the 1992 almanac.
3. The table lists the stars in increasing order of SHA. Use the star names given on the right
side page of the table, these are English names. The names given on left side page are Latin
names.
4. Remember stars with magnitude 1.0 or lower fall under First magnitude & magnitude 1.1 -
2.0 under second magnitude & so on.
5. If the time is not mentioned in the question then for AM use Nautical twilight starting time
& for PM use Civil twilight ending time.

B. Which of these stars will be visible to the observer OR suitable for taking
sight?
1. The stars found within a certain hour angle may or may not be visible to the observer.
2. To find which ones are visible, calculate Latitude difference Declination (L~D) for each star.
3. If L~D is less than or equal to 90 the star will be visible & available for sight.
4. If L~D is greater than 90 the star will be below observer’s Rational Horizon & not visible.
5. If the time is not mentioned in the question then for AM use Nautical twilight starting time
& for PM use Civil twilight ending time.

The following table can be used to list the stars

Visible / Not
Star Magnitude SHA DEC L~D
visible

Capt. Sunil Bhabha (201911) Page 1 of 3

C. Which of these stars will be suitable for ex meridian sight?
1. All the visible stars may not be suitable for Ex Meridian sight.
2. To check if a star is suitable for Ex Meridian, calculate LHA and then angle ‘P’. ‘P’ will be
either equal to LHA or 360 – LHA.
3. Divide ‘P’ by 15° 02.5'. This will give time to/from Meridian Passage of the star.
4. If this time is within the ex-meridian limit, this star is suitable.
5. Ex meridian limit is obtained from Norie’s Table (Ex meridian table I & IV). IF the Norie’s
table is not available, approximate limit in minutes can be obtained by L~D also.
6. If an hour angle is not mentioned in the question, you can check the stars falling within 20°
hour angle from the observer’s meridian for ex meridian suitability.

The following table can be used to list the stars for ex meridian

Time to/from Ex meridian Suitable / Not

Star LHA P
Merpass limit Suitable

D. Which stars will cross the observer’s meridian during a given period of
time & will be visible?
1. In these questions, time duration is specified in the question. In case of twilight the time
duration is to be obtained from the almanac.
2. Find out the SHA of an imaginary star which is on the observer’s meridian for starting time
and the ending time.
3. All the stars having SHA within this range will be crossing the observer’s meridian during this
period.
4. Out of these stars the ones having L~D less than or equal to 90 will be visible.
5. If the duration of time is not mentioned in the question then for AM use Start of Nautical
twilight to Start of Civil twilight & for PM use End of Civil twilight to End of Nautical twilight.

E. Which stars will cross the observer’s inferior meridian during a given
period of time & will be visible?
1. In these questions, time duration is specified in the question. In case of twilight the time
duration is to be obtained from the almanac.
2. Find out the SHA of an imaginary star which is on the observer’s INFERIOR MERIDIAN for
starting time and the ending time. The SHA of a star on Inferior meridian can be obtained by
keeping LHA Star = 180°.
3. All the stars having SHA within this range will be crossing the observer’s inferior meridian
during this period.
4. Out of these stars only those which are circumpolar will be visible to the observer. A star will
be circumpolar if L & D are of same name & L+D is greater than or equals 90.
5. If the duration of time is not mentioned in the question then for AM use Start of Nautical
twilight to Start of Civil twilight & for PM use End of Civil twilight to End of Nautical twilight.

**

Capt. Sunil Bhabha (201911) Page 2 of 3

Practice Questions
1. On 29th November 1992 PM in DR 46° 23' N 092° 45' E what stars of 1st & 2nd magnitude or
planets will be within 45° of hour angle from the observer’s meridian?
(Answer: SHA (84° 10.9’ – 354° 10.9’) Stars – Fomalhaut, Deneb, Altair, Vega, Kaus Australis;
Planets – Venus, Saturn)

2. On 30th November 1992 PM in DR 40° N 138° 15' W find the stars and planets up to
magnitude 3.0 that are between meridian & one hour east of meridian above the pole,
suitable for observation.
(Answer: SHA (33° 18.1’ – 18° 15.6’) Stars – Gruis, Al Nair; Planets – None)

3. A ship in DR 52° S 080° 45' W on 28th Feb 92. Find the 1st magnitude stars that will cross the
observer’s meridian above & below the pole & which will be above the observer’s rational
horizon during PM Nautical twilight.
(Answer: Above Pole SHA (257° 22’ – 276° 55.3’) Stars – Sirius, Canopus, Betelgeuse; Below
Pole SHA (77° 22.0’ – 96° 55.3’) Stars – None)

4. On 19th Jan 92 in DR 40° 28' S 170° 34' W find which stars of magnitude 2 & brighter will be
available for observation below the pole between 1800 hrs & 1900 hrs LMT.
(Answer: SHA (151° 08.2’ – 136° 06’) Stars – Rigil Kent, Hadar)

5. On 3rd March 92 PM at ship in DR 52° S 080° 45' W find the 1st magnitude stars that will
cross the observer’s meridian above & below pole during nautical twilight & are suitable for
observation.
(Answer: Above pole SHA (255° 10.7’ – 265° 57.5’) Stars – Sirius, Canopus; Below pole SHA
(75° 10.7’ – 85° 57.5’) Stars – None)

6. On 14th Oct 92 AM at ship in DR 42° 10' N 170° 10' E find 1st & 2nd magnitude stars that will
cross observer’s meridian from beginning of nautical twilight to beginning of civil twilight.
(Answer: SHA (251° 51.9’ – 259° 57.8’) Stars – Wezen, Adhara, Sirius)

7. On 15th June 92 in position 20° N 075° E which all stars & planets of 1st & 2nd magnitude will
be within 15° of the observer’s meridian. Which of them will be available for observation &
which can be used for ex meridian? The observation is to be made at end of PM civil
twilight.
(Answer: SHA (154° 38.6’ – 184° 38.6’), Stars Within 15° & visible – Spica, Alioth, Mimosa,
Gacrux, Acrux, Planets – None, Suitable for ex meridian - Alioth, Mimosa, Gacrux, Acrux )

8. Which stars & planets of magnitude 2 & 3 will cross the observer’s meridian above the pole,
in position 40° N 030° E on 23rd Aug 92 between 0500 -0600 LMT?
(Answer: SHA (298° 17.9’–313° 20.4’), Stars – €Persei, ᶓ Persei, Alcyone, Mirfak, Algol;
Planets – None)

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 9. In position 40° 10' N 121° 15' E find the stars (2nd magnitude & brighter) & planets crossing
observer’s meridian & his inferior meridian between 1800-1900 ship’s time (time zone –
0800 h) on 21 Sept 92.
(Answer: Observer meridian SHA (73° 10.6’ – 88° 13.1’), Stars – Vega, Kaus Australis, Inferior
meridian SHA (253° 10.6’ – 268° 13.1’), Stars – Adhara, Sirius, Alhena, Canopus, Mirzam,
Planet Mars)

**

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