Mr.
Beatty Astronomy Movie Notes The Universe: Constellations
- The 88 Constellations in the sky have been around for hundreds of years.
o They were believed to have many uses including:
A Calendar
Aide in mapping the world
Gave position while at sea
o They were preserved by the Arabs.
o Important landmark believed to be related to Orion’s Belt is The
Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
- Like the Earth, the sky can be viewed as a sphere on which the constellations
are visible.
o On Earth we can define our location on a map using coordinates of
Latitude and Longitude.
In the celestial sphere of the sky there is a way to determine
location similar to on Earth.
• Declination – Similar to Latitude
• Right Ascension – Similar to Longitude
- In ancient times, as well as today, location while at sea can be determined using
a tool called a Sextant.
- Telescopes have many uses but cannot tell the distance of a normal star from
Earth.
o Note: There are exceptions to being able to use a telescope for distance.
- Distance of stars from Earth can be found by using Parallax.
o Parallax is the apparent shift of objects from where they were first seen
Remember Pencil trick of looking at close objects!
Be sure to compare close and far Parallax.
- Another way to find distance: Pulse Rates of stars.
o We know how long it takes light to travel in a year so by measuring how
long it takes to see a pulse rate we can calculate the distance from Earth.
- Constellations often have translated names into Greek. A few are:
o Orion – The Hunter o Virgo – The Virgin
o Taurus – The Bull o Ophiucus – The Serpent Bearer
o Ursa Major – Larger Bear o Crux – The Cross
- Our North Star is currently Polaris, but will not always be our North Star.
o This is due to the idea of Precession – The apparent wobbling of Earth
on its axis due to gravitational pull of the moon and sun.
o In 14,000 years the star Vega will most likely be our new Pole Star.
o Returns to normal every 26,000 years.
- Several stars and Constellations are Circumpolar.
o This means they are always seen from certain points due to close
location to the poles.
In the Northern Hemisphere Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) is an
example.
- On the celestial sphere there is a line called The Ecliptic.
o Constellations that orbit along the ecliptic are the Zodiac Signs.
o Originally believed to be 12, but recently Ophiucus was accepted as the
13th. Not currently being followed by astrologers though.
- The only star in the sky that does not belong to a constellation is The Sun.
