Star Atlas Exercise – Part 1

The purpose of this laboratory exercise is to familiarize yourself with the uses
and applications of the star atlas (AKA star chart).

Links (You will link to one of two sites for this lab)

1. SFA star charts (http://observe.phy.sfasu.edu/SFAStarCharts/

SFAStarChartsPro.pdf)
2. The Mag-7 star atlas project chart (https://www.cloudynights.com/
articles/cat/articles/observing-skills/free-mag-7-star-charts-r1021)

SET UP PROCEDURE – Open the link to the SFA star charts and print the four
charts. If you want to do this online, save the images and use an app to attach charts
2 and 3 side-by-side.

1. Attach carts 2 & 3 (with chart 3 on the left). You might want to trim the
charts so that one chart lows seamlessly into the other.
2. Use one color to highlight the celestial equator (0 degrees declination), and
another to highlight the ecliptic. On this chart, the ecliptic represents the
path of the Sun through the sky. (Note: The polar charts do not contain these
sections)
3. For charts 1-4, answer the following questions:
a. What is the range in declination (from smallest to largest value)?
Make sure to indicate + or – degrees
i. Chart 1 _________________________
ii. Chart 2 _________________________
iii. Chart 3 _________________________
iv. Chart 4 _________________________
b. What is the range in R.A. in hours?
i. Chart 1 _________________________
ii. Chart 2 _________________________
iii. Chart 3 _________________________
iv. Chart 4 _________________________
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 4. In a different color than you have already used, highlight the names of all of
the constellations (these will be in all caps). Notice stars only contain a
leading cap.

RIGHT ASCENSION AND DECLINATION

Locating Places in the Sky (From openstax astronomy text):

Positions in the sky are measured in a way that is very similar to the way we measure
positions on the surface of Earth. Instead of latitude and longitude, however,
astronomers use coordinates called declination and right ascension.

Declination on the celestial sphere is measured the same way that latitude is measured
on the sphere of Earth: from the celestial equator toward the north (positive) or south
(negative). So Polaris, the star near the north celestial pole, has a declination of almost
+90o.

Right ascension (RA) is like longitude, except that instead of Greenwich, the arbitrarily
chosen point where we start counting is the vernal equinox, a point in the sky where
the ecliptic (the Sun’s path) crosses the celestial equator. RA can be expressed either in
units of angle (degrees) or in units of time. This is because the celestial sphere appears
to turn around Earth once a day as our planet turns on its axis. Thus the 360o of RA
that it takes to go once around the celestial sphere can just as well be set equal to 24
hours. Then each 15o of arc is equal to 1 hour of time. For example, the approximate
celestial coordinates of the bright star Capella are RA 5h = 75o and declination +50o.

1. Use your SFA star chart to ill out the rest of the following table:

R. A. Dec. Name of Name of Magnitude

Star Constellation
12 hr. 15 min -60o

Altair AQUILA +1

+12o LEO +1

Alcaid URSA MAJOR

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 2. De ine (here), and draw & label (on your maps) the spots on the charts that
correspond to the:
a. Winter solstice ____the solstice marks the onset of winter, known as
the shortest day, about December 22 in the northern hemisphere and
June 21 in the southern hemisphere.___
________________________________________________________________________________
R.A. ________________ Dec. ___22_________
b. Summer solstice _____The summer solstice, also called the estival
solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its
maximum tilt toward the Sun.___marking the onset of summer, at the
time of the longest day, about June 21 in the northern hemisphere and
December 22 in the southern
hemisphere.____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
R.A. ________________ Dec. ___22_________
c. Spring equinox ___ The sun crosses the plane of the equator towards
the relevant hemisphere, making day and night of equal
length.__________________________________________________
R.A. ________________ march. __19/20/21__________
d. Autumnal equinox ___the time at which the sun crosses the plane of
the equator away from the relevant hemisphere, making day and night
of equal length_______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
R.A. ________________ Dec. ____________

PRECESSION AND THE ZODIAC (From openstax astronomy text):

By observing the stars and comparing his data with older observations, Hipparchus
made one of his most remarkable discoveries: the position in the sky of the north
celestial pole had altered over the previous century and a half. Hipparchus deduced
correctly that this had happened not only during the period covered by his
observations, but was in fact happening all the time: the direction around which the
sky appears to rotate changes slowly but continuously. Recall from the section on
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celestial poles and the celestial equator that the north celestial pole is just the
projection of Earth’s North Pole into the sky. If the north celestial pole is wobbling
around, then Earth itself must be doing the wobbling. Today, we understand that the
direction in which Earth’s axis points
does indeed change slowly but
regularly—a motion we call
precession. If you have ever watched
a spinning top wobble, you observed
a similar kind of motion. The top’s
axis describes a path in the shape of
a cone, as Earth’s gravity tries to
topple it.

Precession is like a spinning top

Just as the axis of a rapidly spinning top wobbles slowly in a circle, so the axis of Earth
wobbles in a 26,000-year cycle. Today the north celestial pole is near the star Polaris,
but about 5000 years ago it was close to a star called Thuban, and in 14,000 years it
will be closest to the star Vega.

When someone today casually asks you your “sign,” they are asking for your “sun sign”
—which zodiac sign the Sun was in at the moment you were born. However, more than
2000 years have passed since the signs received their names from the constellations.

Figure 1. The original astrological signs. Wikimedia Commons Images.

1. (Use your SFA star chart) List all of the constellations through which the
Sun passes (even if just a tiny bit) in order, starting from R.A.: 0 hr. 0 min.,
 through R.A.: 23 hr 0 min. (You may want to trace the constellations with a
highlighter so that you don’t miss one.)
______capricornus________________ _________leo________________
___Aquarius___________________ ____________virgo__________________
_____Pisces___________________ ___________Libra_________________
_____Aries____________________ _______Scorpius_________________
___Taurus_____________________ ______Sagittarius__________________
___Gemini______________________ _____Ophiuchus__________________
____Cancer______________________ ___________________________________
2. How many constellations did you ind? ____13______ These constellations have
a special name (The Zodiac).
3. The original Zodiac had only 12 constellations. What constellation is missing
from the original one? _____Ophiuchus______________
4. Using your understanding of precession, give a short 3-5 sentence
explanation for this discrepancy.
The 13th Ophiuchus is omitted because when the signs were irst described, the
stars were not in exactly the same position as they are today.

5. De ine ‘sun sign’ or ‘Zodiac sign’

The sun sign is the position of the Sun at birth, which is said to be placed within one
of the twelve zodiac sign. This sign is then called the sun sign or zodiac/star sign of
the person born in that twelfth-part of the year.

6. Use the following site http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/astronomy/

ephemerides.html
to locate the R.A. and Dec. of the sun on the day of your birth:
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 Example for June 11, 2000:

R.A. _14h55m09.67s_ Dec. ___-16° 41' 56.51"_______

a. Plot and label this point on your map.
b. What constellation is it in on your map? _________________________________
c. Check this in the results from the ephemeris calculator site:

d. Is your sign different than what you thought it was? ___yes; usually my
sun sign is in Scorpius now it is in Libra__ (If you don’t know your star
sign, look it up on igure 1).
- Constellation where the Sun is located : Scale (Libra)

PLANETS

Planets are much closer to us than stars. They are not drawn on star charts as they
move much more quickly with respect to background stars, so they are constantly
changing positions in the sky relative to these stars. The positions of the planets, for
various dates in April, 2017 , are listed here (Sky and Telescope, April 2018). Use
your SFA star chart.
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 Planet RA Dec Constellation
Mercury (4/1) 0hr 41min +7o
Venus (4/1) 1hr 55min +11o
Mars (4/1) 18hr 34min -23o
Jupiter (4/1) 15hr 20min -17o
Saturn (4/1) 18hr 37min -22o
Uranus (4/16) 1hr 45min +10o
Neptune (4/16) 23hr 7min -6o

1. Plot and label the following planets on your maps.

2. List the constellation each will be in (or very close to)in your table.
3. Which planet is closest to the ecliptic? ________________________
4. Which planet is farthest from the ecliptic? _______________________

5. Why isn’t the Earth listed? (Hint: There are two ways to de ine the ecliptic)

6. Do a quick sketch of the relative distance of each planet from the ecliptic.
Note: planet separation is NOT to scale. (Make sure your sketch indicates
whether the planet is above, below, or on the ecliptic).

APPARENT ANGULAR SIZE AND DISTANCE

Because the Earth is round, our view of the sky is also round (follows a curve).
When calculating the sizes of (or distance between) objects in the sky from our
point of view, we calculate the curved (or angular) distances. One way to describe
these distances is in degrees.
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Use the Dec. degrees on one of your maps to fashion a ruler for yourself (trace from
your chart onto a strip of paper). Use your ruler to answer the following questions.
Use your SFA star chart.

1. How far apart are the following in degrees?

a. From Sirius in CANIS MAJOR to Ameb in LEPUS ________________
b. From Capella in AURIGA to Algol in PERSEUS ___________________
2. If you were to use a pair of binoculars with a given angular ield of view of 6.8o
(which would be circular), would you be able to see the entire SAGITTA
constellation through them? ___________ Why or why not?

3. If not, what would be the minimum ield of view required to see the entire
constellation through your binoculars? _____________
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