1. How many stars can you see with the naked eye?
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- 2,000
- If:
- Moonless night
- No light pollution
2. What is a constellation?
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- An area in the night sky containing a particular pattern of stars
- 88 in total
3. What are asterisms?
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- Groups of stars that form familiar shapes.
- The Plough.
- The Summer Triangle.
4. Describe the constellation Orion.
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- Asterism of Orion’s belt
- Pointer stars to Aldebaran (up and to the right )
- and Sirius (down and to the left).
- Contains the Orion Nebula (below the belt)
5. Describe the Winter Triangle.
6. Who was Johann Bayer?
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- 17th Century German Lawyer
- Devised Naming Scheme
- ○ Bayer Designation
7. Describe the Bayer Designation Naming Scheme.
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- Brightest star in constellation is Alpha
- Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon… as stars get dimmer.
- 1st 3 letters of the constellation of which the star is found.
- β cent is 2nd brightest star in constellation centaurus.
- γ Gem is 3rd brightest star in constellation Gemini.
8. Name the first 5 letters of the Greek Alphabet.
9. Who published the first list of constellations and when?
10. Where did a lot of the work in the Almagest originate?
11. Who added in the southern constellations?
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- Dutch navigators
- Dirkszoon & Houtman.
- 12 constellations added to original 8
- Named after birds and animals.
12. Who was Nicolas Louis de Lacaille?
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- French astronomer
- Set up observatory in South Africa (Table Mountain).
- Invented 14 new constellations to fill in gap in southern sky.
13. Why was 1922 a significant year for constellations?
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- IAU (international Astronomical Union)
- Adopted official list of 88 constellations.
14. Describe some cultural differences in the interpretations of constellations.
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- Capricornus (the sea goat).
- Aztecs whale .
- Indians Antelope.
- Orion’s Belt
- The Plough
- Navaho (7 brothers of the changing bear Maiden)
15. Why are some constellations only visible during certain seasons of the year?
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- Stars visible at E1 can only be seen when the earth is at E1 and stars at E2 can only be seen at E2
- This explains why some constellations can only be seen at certain seasons of the year!
Note: You can’t see stars visible at E2 when the earth is at E1 because those stars are behind the sun.
16. Describe how you would find Fomalhaut and the Andromeda Galaxy in the night sky.
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- For Fomalhaut
- make line between top and bottom right corners of the great square of Pegasus and follow this line down.
- For Andromeda (M31)
- From the top left corner of the square of Pegasus, jump two stars left and two up.
17. What is M31?
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- This is the Andromeda Galaxy.
- This is the furthest thing that is not in our galaxy
18. What is Fomalhaut?
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- It is the star of which the first exoplanet was discovered.
http://youtu.be/gRw-cNiVIVo
