Constellations Lab

Abstract

This lab report analyzes simple occurrences in the night sky on the night of Wednesday, February 17, 2016. In order to get the best view of the night sky, students drove to Baker Observatory in Marshfield, Missouri to gather data. Locations of stars, planets, and the moon are recorded in order to get a better understanding of the objects around us.

Introduction

Each section of the lab report assignment ranging from A to G requires different pieces of information. Different skills learned in class, such as using fingers and hands to measure degrees in the sky and using a smartphone app to help identify stars, allowed us to uncover new information about the sky. Using a variety of methods such as those mentioned gave us the tools necessary to follow the questions in the lab packet.

Procedure

A. First, we used StarChart for Android to identify stars and constellations. The app was loaded and the phone camera was then pointed to the sky. As the user moved the phone around, the screen displayed labels for the points visible above.

B. Next, we looked up to the moon and recorded its size, phase, and location in the sky using our fingers and hands to estimate degrees.

C. Using StarChart again, we looked to the sky to identify planets. Though they look like stars from Earth, the application allowed us to differentiate between stars and planets. We also recorded the location using StarChart and our hands as guides.

D. We located the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye and also viewed it through a telescope to answer questions about its appearance.

E. This step was skipped, as we could not view the milky way on this evening.

F. Using our eyes to spot the brightest, most apparent stars in the night sky, we aimed StarChart at the points to identify their names. StarChart also helped in recording their locations in the sky.

G. We then found Polaris, the north star, and recorded the location and angle of the star in the sky. We compared the angle to Springfield’s latitude, as Springfield is just next to Marshfield.

Results and Discussion

A. On Wednesday, February 17, 2016, the visible constellations included Cassiopeia, Orion, and part of Leo. Orion and Leo are both a part of the zodiac. Pictured below are the general shapes of the observed constellations:

  

[1]

B. The moon was very bright this night and was in the waxing gibbous stage of its phases. The Azimuth was about 65° and the altitude was about 32° when we were at Baker Observatory. I was able to cover it with the tip of my finger at arm’s length with one eye closed, suggesting that it covers about two degrees’ width in the sky. (Method was similar to that in photo to the bottom right.)

[2]

When looking at the moon this night, it was very difficult to see stars near it. This is because the moon was reflecting a great deal of light from the sun.

Looking at the moon from the ground at night is also difficult because our eyes are not good at seeing such small details from so far away. I was not able to identify maria or craters from the ground, though I could tell there were darker and lighter spots on the surface.

C. On February 17^th, I was able to find Uranus and Jupiter in the night sky. These observations were taken at approximately 8:40pm.

Planet	Azimuth	Altitude
Uranus	255°	20°
Jupiter	25°	7°

D. The Orion Nebula was visible from the ground and Andromeda Galaxy was observed through a telescope this evening. They looked fuzzy and were not pin points of light like a star would be. The Orion Nebula was at about 210° southwest and 30° above the horizon at about 8:50pm.

It was difficult to tell that the galaxy was made up of 100 billion stars because it was fuzzy and faint. It could be inferred that it was a group of stars in the sky, but because the points were not well defined, it would be difficult to draw that conclusion without more information.

F. We found five stars that we believed to be the brightest and their locations in the sky at about 9pm that evening are as follows:

Star	Azimuth	Altitude
Sirius	163°	34°
Capella	328°	79°
Betelgeuse	176°	60°
Rigel	170°	40°
Procyon	115°	50°

G. Polaris was located at 350° above the horizon with an azimuth angle of 35°. Our estimate of Polaris’s location is very near what we know to be Springfield’s latitude to be at -27.1950° N. To me, this suggests that our view of a star in the sky is greatly affected by our location on Earth. Assuming Polaris should be directly north, it would make sense to conclude that our angle from what should be directly north influences how we perceive a star or planet’s location in the night sky.

Resources

[1] taken from: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/07/16/15-constellations-every-man-should-know/

[2] from: http://favim.com/image/180402/