March 2012 History For all agricultural people from the past the knowledge of heaven was fundamental Its observation allowed them to calculate the precise timing for planting and harvesting to prepare for winter or the rigors of summer ID: 293833
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Slide1
Star Gazing
March 2012Slide2
History
For all agricultural people from the past, the knowledge of heaven was fundamental.
Its observation allowed them to calculate the precise timing for planting and harvesting, to prepare for winter or the rigors of summer.
The sky was to them a mystery and soon they began to see the elements of supernatural beings, feared or loved characters.Slide3
Constellations
A constellation is a group of stars whose position in the night sky is apparently so close that ancient civilizations drew lines connecting them . Forming shapes of beloved characters or feared beasts.
The name comes from the Latin
constellatio
meaning set with stars.Slide4
Classifying Constellations
According to their position in the sky are divided in the following groups:
Northern Circumpolar Constellations.
Northern Hemisphere Constellations.
Equatorial Constellations.
Zodiacal Constellations.
Southern Hemisphere Constellations.
Southern Circumpolar Constellations.
There are 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union.Slide5
Orion
Orion was a huntsman in Greek Mythology. It is one of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky.
Orion is very useful for finding other stars. By extending the belt southeastward you may find Sirius from the
constellation
Canis
Major.
Northwest
you may find
Aldebaran
from Taurus. A line from
Rigel
through Betelgeuse points to Castor and
Pollux from Gemini.Slide6
Orion Continued.
Betelgeuse
, is a massive M-type red supergiant
star nearing the end of its life. When it explodes it will even be visible during the day. It is the second brightest star in Orion.
Rigel
, is a B-type blue supergiant that is the sixth brightest star in the night sky.
Bellatrix
. It is the twenty-second brightest star in the night sky. Bellatrix is considered a B-type blue giant.Slide7
The Giza-Orion Correlation
The Giza-Orion correlation theory,
is a hypothesis that claims a correlation between the location of the three largest pyramids in Giza, Egypt and the stars that form Orion’s Belt.
The stars of Orion were associated with Osiris, the sun-god of rebirth.Slide8
Polaris
Also known as the North Star, Pole Star or Lodestar.
It is the brightest star in the
Ursa
Minor (Little Bear) constellation.
It is very close to the north celestial pole.Slide9
True North
In the northern hemisphere we can use Polaris to find the north without using a compass.
The
beauty of using the north star for navigation is that unlike a magnetic compass the north star
is closer to geographical north
. There is no magnetic declination
(that is the difference between the geographical and magnetic poles) to
deal with
.Simply by finding the North Star travelers are able to determine all the points of the compass: westward would be on your left, eastward to the right, and southward behind you.
Ursa
Major (The Big Bear)
CassiopeaSlide10
Finding constellations on the northern night skySlide11
Tonight (March Mexico City).
Orion
Taurus
Gemini
Lepus
(Hare)
Cassiopea
Ursa
Major
Ursa
Minor
Cancer
Leo
Cepheus
Draco
Canis
Major
Hydra
Lynx
Auriga
Perseus
Andromeda
Monoceros
(unicorn)
Eridanus
Bootes
HerculesSlide12
References
www.universetoday.com/93906/night-sky-guide-march-2012/