Quick pointers on star hopping

[King David]

Hope it is ok to start a new thread about this, I didn't want to post this on the Astronomers thread as it seems to be aimed at a bit higher level than I am currently interested in.

Over the next few weeks I am likely to be spending a fair ammount of time camping out on the Welsh mountains. Every time I do I find myself looking up at the stars and feeling as if I should take the chance to get to know the sky a little better. I have had a quick search online and think I have a basic idea of the kind of things I should be looking at. Really I was wondering if anyone could recommend a fairly simple book about the stuff I would be able to see with the naked eye or through some basic binoculars that also includes some star charts for various times of the year (preferrably the kind of thing that won't take up too much space in a well packed bag).

I figure that you have to start somewhere, and just looking at the things I have found online I am getting excited as I start to see familiar patterns. I'm looking forward to finding Gemini tomorrow night in the hope of catchnig some shooting stars. As I say, I know there are some pretty serious astronomers out there so any help would be really appreciated

[nellyleelephant]

I have one of these, almost as essential is a red torch!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/054008817X/ref=...

[Simpo Two]

The one that looks like a bear is the Great Saucepan, Teflon major. No hang on... the one that looks like a saucepan is the Great Bear, Ursa major, and if you follow the line of the two stars on the left you find Polaris the pole star.

The 'W' is Cassiopeia, and the 'X' is Orion the hunter, and somewhere near his todger, sorry sword, is the Andromeda galaxy I think. Or is it M31, M being for Messier?

The big one is the moon, the small very bright one is Venus.

That is about all I know

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 13th December 16:19

[nellyleelephant]

Simpo Two said:

The one that looks like a bear is the Great Saucepan, Teflon major. No hang on... the one that looks like a saucepan is the Great Bear, Ursa major, and if you follow the line of the two stars on the left you find Polaris the pole star.

The 'W' is Cassiopeia, and the 'X' is Orion the hunter, and somewhere near his todger, sorry sword, is the Andromeda galaxy I think. Or is it M31, M being for Messier?

The big one is the moon, the small very bright one is Venus.

That is about all I know

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 13th December 16:19

Near his sword / todger is M42, The Great Orion Nebula. Andromeda is elsewhere.

[MX-Si]

Hi King David,

You may be interested in the latest Sky at Night programme:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk7h

I watched it at the weekend and as very amateur astronomer I found it really informative and easy to follow. The only thing I need now is a clear sky to do some observing!

[Simpo Two]

I should have got Herzsprung-Russell in somewhere really... it's a double star (no not really)

[Eric Mc]

Simpo Two said:

I should have got Herzsprung-Russell in somewhere really... it's a double star (no not really)

I thought it a diagram showing the life sequence of a star.

Edited by Eric Mc on Monday 13th December 17:25

[TheEnd]

Simpo Two said:

I should have got Herzsprung-Russell in somewhere really... it's a double star (no not really)

A bit like Ant and Dec.
Russell is the one on the left.

[jmorgan]

Always found starry night handy for printing a bit of sky showing seeable stars and stick figures for the constellations. The main thing about this though, is that the stars and information is printed black on the white sheet. Makes it easy for reading. Also a planesphere is handy and you can make your own.

[King David]

Cheers for the responses, good to see I won't automatically become humourless if I get into this

I've found this ( http://www.skyandtelescope.com/letsgo/learningthes...) and made my own simple planisphere so I'm hoping for a clear sky as soon as possible. Seem to be getting pretty good at finding things online so looking forward to trying it out on the real thing. Would be great to be able to figure the approximate time just by looking up when camping out.

[don4l]

Another superb book for beginners is
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundred-Te...

ETA Tonight should see lots of shooting stars, if the sky is clear.


Don
--

Edited by don4l on Monday 13th December 18:00

[PHmember]

Depending on when you're going it might be well worth keeping an eye on the ISS (International Space Station) spotting thread. It's well worth keeping an eye out for any visible passes.

Also if you have an iPhone you might want to have a look for some astronomy type apps, there are quite a few & can be very helpful. (Also the ISS app).

[PHmember]

Oh, & have a look at http://www.google.com/sky/

[Simpo Two]

King David said:

Cheers for the responses, good to see I won't automatically become humourless if I get into this

Yes you will; I deliberately avoid getting into it - just running on general knowledge

When you've spotted all the trains you move onto stars (I expect!)

[King David]

Well last night I took my home made planisphere out to have a go at a bit of astronomy. As sad as it may sound it was genuinely exciting, after about half an hour I was able to look around at a previously unfamiliar sky and spot about fifteen constellations / star clusters. A particular highlight seeing a shooting star at the exact moment I first identified the North Star

Can't wait to be on a mountain looking up with no light pollution and very little to obscure the view. Particularly looking forward to using the planisphere to work out what the time is whenever I wake up.

What kind of things can you see using fairly standard binoculars? I don't know how strong they are, we tend to borrow a friends. I would love to have a look at the Orion Nebula in a bit of detail, do you need to have telescope for that?

Lots of questions right now, can't believe how much I enjoyed it

[nellyleelephant]

With my 15x70 binoculars (15 times mag - 70mm aperture) you can clearly see that the Orion Nebula has 'structure'. High up and with no clouds or light pollution you should be able ti find it very easily with just your eyes.

You should also be bale to see the Andromeda Galaxy with just your eyes alone too, pretty sure this is the furthest object that can be seen by eye only. 2.5 million light years, or 14664240000000000000....assuming my maths is right! Good through bins too.

Edited by nellyleelephant on Tuesday 14th December 12:22

[King David]

nellyleelephant said:

With my 15x70 binoculars (15 times mag - 70mm aperture) you can clearly see that the Orion Nebula has 'structure'. High up and with no clouds or light pollution you should be able ti find it very easily with just your eyes.

You should also be bale to see the Andromeda Galaxy with just your eyes alone too, pretty sure this is the furthest object that can be seen by eye only. 2.5 million light years, or 14664240000000000000....assuming my maths is right! Good through bins too.

Edited by nellyleelephant on Tuesday 14th December 12:22

Is the Andromeda Galaxy the point of Pegasus that is closest to Perseus? With the eyes will this just look like 'another star' as in a point of light, or will it be noticably different.

I was outside looking up at about 9 last night. The moon was visible to the west (I hope I got that right ) and just below it and to the left there was a very bright 'star'. Would I be right assuming that was one of the planets?

It just seems brilliant that the planispere works, I look at it then I look up and everything is where it is meant to be. Might sound silly but it is just like being a child again and finding the simplest things incredible

[Eric Mc]

The moon was next to Jupiter last night. Tonight they will have moved apart slightly.

[nellyleelephant]

King David said:

nellyleelephant said:

With my 15x70 binoculars (15 times mag - 70mm aperture) you can clearly see that the Orion Nebula has 'structure'. High up and with no clouds or light pollution you should be able ti find it very easily with just your eyes.

You should also be bale to see the Andromeda Galaxy with just your eyes alone too, pretty sure this is the furthest object that can be seen by eye only. 2.5 million light years, or 14664240000000000000....assuming my maths is right! Good through bins too.

Edited by nellyleelephant on Tuesday 14th December 12:22

Is the Andromeda Galaxy the point of Pegasus that is closest to Perseus? With the eyes will this just look like 'another star' as in a point of light, or will it be noticably different.

I was outside looking up at about 9 last night. The moon was visible to the west (I hope I got that right ) and just below it and to the left there was a very bright 'star'. Would I be right assuming that was one of the planets?

It just seems brilliant that the planispere works, I look at it then I look up and everything is where it is meant to be. Might sound silly but it is just like being a child again and finding the simplest things incredible

Here's a link to it's location http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andromeda_conste... you'll see it as a smudge with your eye, don't look straight at it though, averted vision is the key.

You would have seen Jupiter last night, through binoculars (even low powered ones) you should see its four largest moons.

[King David]

So I will find the Andromeda Galaxy withing the Andromeda constellation? Am I right in thinking that some of the stars that make up Pegasus also make up Andromeda? Do stars often make up more than one constellation?