[LaRemnant]

Originally Posted by Roadracer

Learn: Identify constellations, stars, planets and how to navigate at night


This is a great site that teaches you to Identify constellations, stars, planets and how to navigate at night.

Wow, that is so COOL. Thank you for sharing that! It was very user friendly, and I must admit that I clicked on the "can't find" button a few times. Oh well, not the end of the world, but once it was displayed I quickly realized a few things, like the planet moves and is not always near the top of Orion's arm.

Knowing how to identify three constellations, two stars and a planet is really good for starters... now if only I can find a program that show's this all 3 dimensionally! Supposedly, knowing how far particular constellations are from the horizon and how far left or right it is can help you tell the time and of course, the direction you wish to go in during the night.

Safe travels!

[stairman]

Hey thats cool.

[Celticwarrior]

Gotta admit, it's a whole lot more fun than my college Astronomy class, where we had to learn ascentions, declinations and azimuth readings, as well as brightness scales and size/color/phases of stars. By the time you learned about things like common star names and constellations, you just didn't care anymore. More math than people should be forced to do to just admire the night sky, let me tell you.

This is something I am going to share with my son, who has always been a big fan of astronomy, and loves learning about the night sky, but I think he would gain a lot by doing this exercise.

Nice link.

[Roadracer]

Originally Posted by Celticwarrior

Gotta admit, it's a whole lot more fun than my college Astronomy class, where we had to learn ascentions, declinations and azimuth readings, as well as brightness scales and size/color/phases of stars. By the time you learned about things like common star names and constellations, you just didn't care anymore. More math than people should be forced to do to just admire the night sky, let me tell you.

This is something I am going to share with my son, who has always been a big fan of astronomy, and loves learning about the night sky, but I think he would gain a lot by doing this exercise.

Nice link.

?!?!?!?!?

Someone took their "Big-Word" pills today!

[WoodsCustom]

A Great tutorial.

WC

[Celticwarrior]

Originally Posted by Roadracer

?!?!?!?!?

Someone took their "Big-Word" pills today!

I eat a dictionary every morning to help keep my vowels clear.

[countryboycansurvive]

Cool link. Thanks for sharing. I was wondering if they would mention more about the big dipper.

If you can find the big dipper, you can find the little dipper. Polaris,(the north star), is the last star in the handle of the little dipper. The star never moves but the little dipper pivots on Polaris like the hand on a clock. The big dipper always moves completely in the sky as the night wears on so that it appears the little dipper always pours out into the big dipper. Polaris is the only stationary star in the big dipper/little dipper scheme. They both rotate around the north star but always together, with the little dipper pouring into the big dipper. Using their positions in the sky, after a few nights of observation, it is possible to estimate the time of night.

Just thought I'd share that too!

[LaRemnant]

Where I am at (Central FLorida), I can clearly see Orion's Belt, but not Casiopiea or Polaris seemingly

Maybe I am just not squinting hard enough.

[WoodsCustom]

I was thinking of you boys last night when I was outside checking the perimeter before turning in.

I looked up at the million stars in the sky and studied Orion, wondering if you all did the same.

WC

[vthompson]

We have had snow the last 4 days and nights, so I haven't been able to see anything at night.