TGP NOMINAL Xtra - Back Garden Astronomy Week 2020
Well considering our motto at UK Astronomy is
"Because There Are A Billion Worlds In Your Back Garden"
we couldn’t really talk this month without mentioning
that its 'Back Garden Astronomy Week', the beginning of the month.
For us this is fantastic as it means groups all over the UK are actively inspiring people to get out in their gardens looking up.
So how can you do this…? Easy, walk out your doors on any clear night and look up. There’s loads of stars twinkling in the sky.
"Because There Are A Billion Worlds In Your Back Garden"
we couldn’t really talk this month without mentioning
that its 'Back Garden Astronomy Week', the beginning of the month.
For us this is fantastic as it means groups all over the UK are actively inspiring people to get out in their gardens looking up.
So how can you do this…? Easy, walk out your doors on any clear night and look up. There’s loads of stars twinkling in the sky.
You can visually see some are bigger, brighter, different colours and the more they twinkle means generally the more atmospheric distortion there is.
For Astronomers distortion is bad as it means the air is moving or there is humidity in the air, making the light from the stars distort which doesn't give you a clear view of them.
The best nights are the cold still ones. But seeing a star twinkling in the sky is also pretty cool as you can see all the colours refracting and making it look alive in the sky.
For Astronomers distortion is bad as it means the air is moving or there is humidity in the air, making the light from the stars distort which doesn't give you a clear view of them.
The best nights are the cold still ones. But seeing a star twinkling in the sky is also pretty cool as you can see all the colours refracting and making it look alive in the sky.
Click on the link below to download a higher resolution copy of the
"Night Sky Map" |
So you are out In your garden looking up at these stars and your kids start asking questions don’t panic,
here’s a little UK Astronomy guide to your back garden skies this month…..
Stars are balls of plasma which is, as Ross Hockham say's "It's a bit like lava"
but in space, it acts weirdly as space is a strange place.
They are huge nuclear power stations in space that eat hydrogen and helium mostly,
and when they do give off heat you can feel and light you can see.
This light has taken only 8 minutes from our star (The Sun or Sol) to reach Earth, but travelled over 93 million miles! Wow…. and that’s our nearest star.
To put this in perspective, it takes a rocket about the same amount of time to get into space, which is roughly 12,500 miles!
It takes 4 hours for the same light to reach Neptune the last planet in our solar system.
So imagine how long its taken light to reach us from those stars we see billions upon billions of light years away,
in our gardens?
Some left that star when the dinosaurs were still alive, some even longer.
Some stars you see tonight will no longer actually be there, it's just taken the light so long to reach us,
that the star died long before we saw the light. That's CRAZY.
but in space, it acts weirdly as space is a strange place.
They are huge nuclear power stations in space that eat hydrogen and helium mostly,
and when they do give off heat you can feel and light you can see.
This light has taken only 8 minutes from our star (The Sun or Sol) to reach Earth, but travelled over 93 million miles! Wow…. and that’s our nearest star.
To put this in perspective, it takes a rocket about the same amount of time to get into space, which is roughly 12,500 miles!
It takes 4 hours for the same light to reach Neptune the last planet in our solar system.
So imagine how long its taken light to reach us from those stars we see billions upon billions of light years away,
in our gardens?
Some left that star when the dinosaurs were still alive, some even longer.
Some stars you see tonight will no longer actually be there, it's just taken the light so long to reach us,
that the star died long before we saw the light. That's CRAZY.
Look in the sky for the Asterism called the plough. An Asterism is a smaller version of a constellation,
which is normally connected to other Asterisms or Constellations.
The Plough is named after the farming implement that our ancestors would have used for farming,
making Farrows or trenches in the fields, for planting crops.
Sometimes the plough is called the Saucepan and in America, The Big Dipper.
It's probably easier to view the Asterism as a Saucepan and there are a few things you can look for around it.
If you follow the handle up through the saucepan to the last two stars draw a line upwards, it will point you to the North star or Pole Star (Polaris), which stays still in the sky as it almost perfectly aligned with Earth's North Axis.
All the other stars move in a circle around it, which helped us to navigate the seas.
The 2nd star in the saucepans handle is actually made up of two stars (Mizar and Alcor).
In the Roman times, these stars were used as an eye test if you could see the two stars,
you had good enough eye sight to become an archer,which meant you were safe at the back during battle.
If you could only see one star this meant you would be needed at the front line as a Legionnaire.
Click on the following link to download a more detailed view of stars in the "Milky Way"
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All the stars we see in the sky are in our Galaxy 'the Milkyway' so imagine how far away the stars in other Galaxies.
The yellow ring in image of the Milky Way above, contains all the stars we can see in our Galaxy with the naked eye.
The nearest large Galaxy, away from our own is Andromeda
and you can see it with the naked eye, if you have a reasonable dark sky.
Even venturing just out of a local town or city, you can spot it on a good night, in the constellation that shares it's name.
Binoculars are fab! Any that you have are a great tool that many people don’t think of using to look up.
They are amazing spotters for Astronomers, as they give a good wide field of view and magnify objects well enough to see a wide variety of objects. It's like having a small telescope on each eye.
Telescope manufacturer 'Orion' have created a dual telescope which is basically a huge pair of binoculars.
There are a wide range of binoculars all with different specifications,
but you don't need to break the bank find a pair that are right for you.
First off let's cut through the jargon, you will hear astronomers mention numbers,
for example 10 x 50, this is basically the power of your binoculars.
10 being the magnification (10 x zoom if look at it like a camera)
and 50 represent the size of the aperture is the width of the lens.
The wider the lens, the more light will pass through, creating a better image.
Ross recommends 10 x 50 Opticron Adventurers which are about £60 ($80) but there are cheaper versions available.
Orion is one of the easiest constellations to find in the night sky.
It's probably one of the biggest and most well known, with 3 big blue stars in a line as his belt.
To the right of Orion you will find a V shape of redder stars known as the bulls head in the Constellation Taurus.
Carry on and you will find a lovely group of blue stars known as the seven sisters.
The colour blue indicates stars that have just been born and are at their brightest an hottest.
Back to Orion's Belt, and just below it, you may see a fuzz or haze.
This is a nebula which is a mass of dust and gas that creates stars (a Star Nursery),
which is being lit up by brand new burning stars. New planets are being born here too.
So speaking of planets what ones can you currently see?
Most you can see with the naked eye. Only Uranus and Neptune really need binoculars or a telescope to see.
If you are an early bird this month there's a line of three planets up around 5am until the sun rises,Mars is the first to rise.
Our ancestors associated the red colour with war and named it after the god of war as it looked like blood.
Actually, its just got a dusty surface covered in Iron Oxide which is more commonly know as Rust.
Next up is the king of the planets, Jupiter with its big red spot a storm around the size or our planet,
and with binoculars or a scope you can see it's four main moons orbiting it.
Saturn the Crowd Pleaser rises last but is quite low so may be a challenge,
but again you can see its amazing rings with just a pair of binoculars. It is possible.
Mercury is also rising and moving higher as the month goes on, but is probably to low to see easily.
It was named after the Winged Messenger God because because it travels so fast, taking only 88 days to orbit the Sun.
it will rise rapidly and probably best to find it in April.
If you are more of a night owl, you can't miss Venus.
As the sun sets she's high and lives up to her name as the goddess of beauty,
shining amazingly bright and high in the March sky.
Although she has a horrible personality inside.
She rains acid, and is around 464C gas mark 16 and full of a hot dense bone crushing atmosphere.
Not far from Venus is the planet Uranus, which you will need a scope to see but it’s a great time to find it as,
you can use the brightest planet to find a dimmer one, its just around 10 O'clock to Venus.
That’s just a very nice rough guide for you of the sights this month,
.
Most you can see with the naked eye. Only Uranus and Neptune really need binoculars or a telescope to see.
If you are an early bird this month there's a line of three planets up around 5am until the sun rises,Mars is the first to rise.
Our ancestors associated the red colour with war and named it after the god of war as it looked like blood.
Actually, its just got a dusty surface covered in Iron Oxide which is more commonly know as Rust.
Next up is the king of the planets, Jupiter with its big red spot a storm around the size or our planet,
and with binoculars or a scope you can see it's four main moons orbiting it.
Saturn the Crowd Pleaser rises last but is quite low so may be a challenge,
but again you can see its amazing rings with just a pair of binoculars. It is possible.
Mercury is also rising and moving higher as the month goes on, but is probably to low to see easily.
It was named after the Winged Messenger God because because it travels so fast, taking only 88 days to orbit the Sun.
it will rise rapidly and probably best to find it in April.
If you are more of a night owl, you can't miss Venus.
As the sun sets she's high and lives up to her name as the goddess of beauty,
shining amazingly bright and high in the March sky.
Although she has a horrible personality inside.
She rains acid, and is around 464C gas mark 16 and full of a hot dense bone crushing atmosphere.
Not far from Venus is the planet Uranus, which you will need a scope to see but it’s a great time to find it as,
you can use the brightest planet to find a dimmer one, its just around 10 O'clock to Venus.
That’s just a very nice rough guide for you of the sights this month,
.
So the best object this month to learn about has be the constellation Orion, its big, it's bold and full of wonders…
Start with his belt first you will see 3 big stars but with binoculars you’ll notice there is actually a kind of an oval shape of loads of stars there. it's called the Delta Orionis.
Move down and you may see a milky fuzz, look a bit longer with a steady hand or scope and you’ll make out the great Nebula there.
To it's right is the bright blue star Rigel.
Start with his belt first you will see 3 big stars but with binoculars you’ll notice there is actually a kind of an oval shape of loads of stars there. it's called the Delta Orionis.
Move down and you may see a milky fuzz, look a bit longer with a steady hand or scope and you’ll make out the great Nebula there.
To it's right is the bright blue star Rigel.
Move up and to the left of his shoulder there is the star Betelgeuse which,
was really bright red but has been dimming becoming fainter recently.
Scientist believe this was caused by huge particles of debris almost eclipsing the star,
originally they thought it was about to go supernova (die and explode).
Move up to Orion's head and there is a star called Meissa,
which actually holds a mini Orion's Belt of its own called Lambda-Orionis, if you look closer.
Back to Betelgeuse and up to Orions arm his elbow has the number 37 written in stars,
(NGC 2169 - The "37" Cluster) a great object to wow people with through binoculars.
But with the nights becoming less and summer approaching,
it's probably your last best chance to get out and see the wonders of our skies till October.
I hope this little fun easy guide helped you and please do follow the UK Astronomy Facebook Group or the UK Astronomy website and they will be happily help get you out and looking up at objects over the coming weeks.
Various Videos:
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