What is in the Sky Tonight?

Tonight we will learn how to use several different tools for predicting "What is visible in the sky tonight?" This will come in handy for future meetings, when it's clear and we can do some observing.

You should write up a short report, answering each of the questions below, and turn it in at the end of tonight's session. Make sure your report contains:

your name(s)
today's date

First, let's look at the Skygazer's Almanac.

What time does the sun set tonight? (answers to within half an hour are okay) What time does it rise tomorrow morning?
Figure out the date on which this lab class will last meet. What date is it?
What time does the sun set and rise on that date?
When does the moon rise tonight?
What is the moon's phase tonight? If the moon is more than half full, it will tend to shine so brightly that faint objects will be invisible.
What is the moon's phase on the date of the last class meeting?
The star Sirius is in the constellation Canis Major. What time does it rise tonight?

Next, turn to the Star and Planet Finder (also known as a planisphere).

Find the constellation Canis Major, and the star Sirius. Use the Finder to figure out what time the star will rise tonight.
Does the planisphere's answer agree with that of the Almanac?
When will Canis Major rise on the last day of lab? Will you be able to see it before 10 PM on that date?
Find the constellation Pegasus on the planisphere. Use Pegasus to find Andromeda, and look in Andromeda for a spot marked "Galaxy". This is a big, bright, nearby galaxy. Where will it be at 9 PM tonight? Could we see it (if it were clear)?

Now, look at the book "Edmund Sky Guide". Go to the chart on page 17.

Find the constellation Pegasus and the Andromeda Galaxy on this chart.
According to this chart, is the Galaxy visible at 9PM tonight?
Look at the charts at the back of the book. Find Pegasus again, and use it to find the Andromeda Galaxy. What are the celestial coordinates for the Galaxy?
What are the celestial coordinates for the Pleiades?

Another sort of tool is a planetarium program on a computer. Here at RIT, we have installed the program "Sky Map Pro" on computers in lab 3335.

Figure out how to start the Sky Map Pro program (use the "RIT Startup" shortcut).
Set the time and date for 9 PM tonight.
Set the program so that it shows the sky on the southern horizon, with a 90-degree field of view.
What constellations are visible above the southern horizon?
Look to the northern horizon -- what constellations are visible there?
Is the Andromeda Galaxy above the horizon at 9 PM tonight?
Use the program to locate each of the 8 planets other than the earth. Which of them might be above the horizon at 9 PM tonight?

Later on this quarter, on a clear night, we will go outside and look at a set of double stars. For your final task this evening, please

look up double stars in the Edmund Sky Guide
find 4 of them which you will be able to observe during the months of September and October, between 8 and 10 PM.
use the Sky Map Pro program to make two finding charts for each: one with a field of view of 60 degrees, and one with a field of view of 5 degrees.
make 2 copies of each chart; hand in one with your work tonight, and keep the other set of copies for your own use

This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Sep 10, 2001.