Stars

and
Constellations
What Are Stars?

Stars are balls of gas that release energy from inside
themselves.

In order to be recognized as a star, it has to have two
characteristics:
be self-bound by gravity,
it has to radiate energy.
How are Stars Formed?
They are formed in space in large clouds of gas and
dust called nebulae.
Atoms inside the nebula accelerate inward due to the
force of gravity and they collide rapidly with each
other, causing the center of the nebula to become
very dense and hot, causing the temperature of the
protostar to rise.
The object switches to become a true star and it is
then able to make its own heat and light.
The life of the star then depends on its mass.



Colors of Stars
The color of a star measures its temperature.
Red=the coolest,
Yellow=an intermediate
temperature,
Blue=the hottest temperature
A star can appear bright just
because it is really bright,
or because of its closeness to
the Earth.

Constellations
What are constellations?
They are names for groups
of stars that appear to
form shapes in the sky.
They were designed to
help us remember which
stars are which. There are
88 constellations that
divide up the sky.
Constellations
The sky seems to turn as
Earth Rotates
POLARIS: the North Star,
directly above the North
Pole
You can use Polaris to
figure out direction &
location
Some Common
Constellations that You
Might Know
Cassiopeia
The Queen
Orion
The Hunter
Ursa Major
The Great Bear
Ursa Minor
The Little Bear
Gemini
The Twins
Andromeda
The Chained Princess
1.3 The Obvious View
Stars that appear close in the sky may not actually be
close in space:
Why do the Stars Move?
The Stars dont actually move It is
the Earth that is moving (spinning).

The spinning Earth gives the
perception that the stars move.

Polaris Earths northern axis points
at this star so its movement is not
affected by Earths Rotation.
How are Constellations
Useful?
Finding N, S, E & West

- Find Big Dipper then
follow end stars over to
Polaris (the North Star)

Track your position on Earth
(navigation)

What about the 5
wanderers?
Constellations
The sky seems to turn as
Earth Rotates
POLARIS: the North Star,
directly above the North
Pole
You can use Polaris to
figure out direction &
location
Ursa Major
Ursa Major is probably the
most famous constellation,
with the exception of Orion.
Also known as the Great Bear,
it has a companion called Ursa
Minor, or Little Bear.
The body and tail of the bear
make up what is known as the
Big Dipper.
Most of the constellation is
circumpolar, which means it
can be viewed all year long.
However, parts of the legs will
disappear from the sky in the
fall and reappear in the
winter.





Casseopia
Nickname The Queen
Another story says that for
her bragging, Cassiopeia was
chained to her throne and
placed in the sky to circle the
North Star. At times she is
hanging upside down in a most
undignified position as a
warning to all.
The Romans called her the
Woman of the Chair.
To the Arabs, she was the
Lady in the Chair.
Cassiopeia is a northern
circumpolar constellation, so it
can be viewed all year long.





Cepheus
Cepheus is one of the
oldest constellations in
the night sky.
He is a circumpolar
constellation, circling
around the North Star
all year long.


Cygnus
The Swan
Cygnus, the Swan, is also known as
the Northern Cross because of it's
shape. The tail of the swan is
marked by the bright star Deneb,
Arabic for "tail". Three fainter stars
cross the line between Deneb and
the head of the swan, Albireo.
Cygnus flies southward along the
summer Milky Way, and into the
Summer Triangle. Deneb is a bright,
blue supergiant star, very young as
stars go.


Orion
Orion, the Hunter, is by far the
most famous seasonal
constellation. No other is more
distinct or bright as this
northern winter constellation.
The famous Orion's Belt makes
the hunter easy to find in the
night sky.
Orion looks very much like a
person. First, you should spot
Orion's Belt, which is made of
three bright stars in a straight
line. One of Orion's legs is
represented by the bright star
Rigel, one of the brightest stars
in the night sky. His two
shoulders are made of the stars
Bellatrix and Betelgeuse.
The famous Orion Nebula is
located in Orion's sword, which
hangs from the belt. It is so
bright, that even the naked eye
can see the fuzzy patch


Scorpius
More than any other
constellation, Scorpius
resembles it's given name.
Scorpius crawls across the
southern sky, close to the
horizon.
The bright star Antares
marks the heart of the
arachnid, and it's long curving
tail trails to the south. The
scorpion once had claws, but
they were cut off by Julius
Ceasar to form the
constellation Libra.
Scorpious is a Summer
constellation.

The constellations that the
ecliptic passes through are
called
zodiac consellations.
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Celestial Sphere
The celestial sphere is an imaginary hollow sphere, with the
Earth at its center, to which all the stars seen in the night sky
appear to be fixed .

The motion of the stars in the night sky may be visualized as
a rotation of the celestial sphere from east to west about a
north-south axis.

The rotation is from east to west because the stars rise in the
east and set in the west.

The fixed stars are actually at widely varying distances, all
more than 4 light years (25 trillion miles) away, moving
relative to each other with motions that are not apparent to us.

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Know the
following:

North Celestial Pole
South Celestial Pole
Celestial Equator

Declination (latitude)
is measured from
the Celestial Equator.

Right Ascension
(longitude)
is measured from the
Vernal Equinox (see
below).
Celestial Sphere and Ecliptic
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Geocentric view
Since the Earth is considered to be at rest at the center of the
Universe, the ecliptic is defined as the annual path of the Sun
around the celestial sphere.
Sun moves on the ecliptic.
23
o
is the angle between
the ecliptic and the celestial
equator.
Elongations

Elongation occur when an inner planets position, in its orbital path, is at tangent to the view from
Earth. Since these inner planets are inside the Earths orbits their positions as viewed from the Earth
are never very far as from the position of the Sun.

When a planet is at Elongation, it is furthest from the Sun as viewed from Earth, so its view is best at
that point.

There are two kinds of Elongations:
i) The Eastern Elongation occurs when the planet is in the evening sky.
ii) The Western Elongation Occurs when a planet is in the morning sky.

Opposition

For planets outside the Earths orbit (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), the months
around Oppositions are the best time to view these.
An Opposition occurs when the planet is opposite from the Sun, relative to the Earth.
At Opposition the planet will rise as the Sun sets and will set as the Sun rises providing an entire
night of observation. Also at Opposition the planet comes physically closest to the Earth in its orbit
so it appears as large as possible