Astronomical observations are not the kind of thing that are relegated to the special people who own high power telescopes. The celestial sphere is free and available for anybody to enjoy.
The most important thing for viewing the Cosmos is a clear, dark, and unobstructed night sky like what we have now in Tucker County. To get to know your night sky, you need only look up. Although, telescopes and observational instruments are nice, there is much to be gained from the night sky simply by looking up with the naked eye.
For most of human existence, people have been looking into the night sky without the aid of telescopes or other scientific instrumentation. Even today, there is much to gain from an unaided look into the night sky. The most important things that one can have when making such observations are a clear dark night sky and an unobstructed view. The second most important things one can have are some imagination, research, and a little curiosity.
One of the first and easiest of the astronomical bodies that we can observe is the Moon. The Moon (capital M) is the title given to Earth’s moon (as opposed to the moons possessed by other planets). The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. Although our Moon is the fifth largest moon in the Solar System by absolute size, it is by relative standards, the largest moon contained by any planet within the solar system. The Moon is fully one quarter of the Earth’s diameter. With a very large relative size, the Moon is extremely visible in the night sky.
A second astronomical body that is easy to spot can be seen by looking down between your legs. Yup, that is Earth. We have now two astronomical objects identified and a whole lot more to look at.
When looking into the skies on a clear dark night, one cannot help but see the stars. Depending on the darkness and clarity of the night, there are between 6000 and 10,000 stars that are visible. You may wish to also note that stars form patterns in the sky. These patterns, better known as constellations, provide a map that assist us in finding locations and identifying stars within the night sky.
Another thing that distinguishes stars is brightness. The Greek astronomer Hiparcus first catalogued stars and came up with the idea of ranking star brightness via the concept of magnitude. Today, stars tend to have a magnitude that starts with 1 and increases from there. Magnitude 1 stars are the brightest stars. A magnitude 2 star is 2.5 times dimmer than a magnitude 1 star. A magnitude 3 star is 2.5 dimmer than a magnitude 2 star. The best we can hope to see without a telescope are magnitude 6 stars.
The third thing to note is color. Although stars contain a range of colors, our eyes have a difficult time seeing the mid-spectrum colors (the yellow and green stars). Even though our Sun is predominately green, human eyes cannot distinguish the mid-spectrum colors and the Sun appears to us as white. On the other hand, our eyes can pick our end spectrum red and blue stars that are apparent in the night sky.
Some of the stars that you may find interesting to view are as follows:
Serius colloquially known as the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the night sky. With a magnitude of 1.46, Serius is found in the constellation Canus Major. Serius is approximately twice the size of the Sun and approximately 25 times as luminous as the Sun.
Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation of Boötes and is the brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere. Arcturus is part of the Spring Triangle. The interesting thing about Arcturus is that it is visibly red in color. Being relatively close to the Earth (36.7 light-years), Arcturus is a red giant that is a million times as massive as the Sun and has expanded to 250 times the Sun’s diameter.
Betelgeuse is another visibly red star. Located in Orion’s club, Betelgeuse is second-brightest in the constellation of Orion. It is distinctly reddish, and is a semiregular variable star whose magnitude varies between 0.0 and 1.3 (the widest range of any first-magnitude star). If Betelgeuse were at the center of the Solar System, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, wholly engulfing the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and possibly Jupiter. Betelgeuse is in a late stage of stellar evolution and is expected to explode as a supernova soon. (In an astronomical scale, soon can mean any time within the next million years.)
Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra; the fifth brightest star in the night sky; and, the second-brightest star in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere. It is relatively close at only 25 light-years from the Sun. Vega is one of the most luminous stars in the Sun’s neighborhood. One of the interesting things about Vega is that the star in visibly blue.
Polaris (the North Star) is a star that is familiar to every navigator. Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor and it is very close to the north celestial pole. With a magnitude of 1.97, Polaris is the 46th brightest star in the night sky.
Polaris has not always been the North Star. As the Earth wobbles the North Star changes as different stars come closer to the Earth’s pole. Another interesting thing about Polaris is that it is a binary star. Polaris Aa is a yellow supergiant orbiting in conjunction with a smaller companion Polaris Ab. Although only a single light source is visible, rest assured that there are two stars causing the illumination.
In addition to the stars, the planets also inhabit the night sky. Without the aid of a telescope, you can see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and if you are lucky with excellent eyesight, Uranus.
The term planet means wanderer. As their name describes, planets have an annual motion that looks weird to an observer on Earth. The term planet came about because the planets exhibit a characteristic called retrograde motion. As the planets compliment the stars in the ongoing sidereal movement through the heavens they will inexplicably (at least to the ancient observers) suddenly change direction and start moving in the opposite direction. This reverse motion of the planets baffled the early observers until the Polemic model of planetary motion gave way to the modern Copernican model. (Once the Sun took its placed in the center of the Solar System, the retrograde motion of the planets could be more easily explained.)
Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system and closest planet to the sun. Because of its proximity, Mercury remains close to the Sun and can only be seen near the western or eastern horizon during the early evening or early morning.
Apart from the Moon, Venus is the brightest celestial object in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of up to -4.5. Venus is bright enough to cast shadows at night and, is sometimes visible during daytime. Because Venus orbits between Earth and the Sun, it is an inferior planet like Mercury and never appears to venture far from the Sun. Venus also shows phases like the Moon.
Mars is the second-smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury. Mars is often referred to as the “Red Planet” because the iron oxide on the surface of Mars gives it a distinctive reddish appearance. Mars with an apparent magnitude of -2.9 can easily be seen and identified by its reddish coloring.
Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is one of the gas giants. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass that is two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Depending on where it is in its orbit, Jupiter can reach an apparent magnitude up to -2.95 making it the third-brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus.
Saturn, the sixth planet, is the second-largest planet in the Solar System. It is the second gas giant with an average radius about nine times that of Earth. Saturn has an apparent magnitude of approximately 0 to 1 making it brighter than most stars but not as visible as the inner planets. The most prominent feature of Saturn is its rings. However, the rings of Saturn are not visible without an aid. If you wish to see the rings of Saturn, a good pair of binoculars or a telescope will be needed.
Uranus the seventh planet is the third largest planet in the Solar System. Uranus is an ice giant (as opposed to a gas giant). With an apparent magnitude of 5, Uranus is very difficult to see. If you can spot Uranus without the help of a telescope, you should consider yourself very lucky.
One interesting feature about planets is that they do not twinkle. Stars twinkle because of atmospheric turbulence. Because planets are large enough to fill a measurable portion of the night sky, atmospheric turbulence does not cause them to twinkle.
Our night sky has additional objects that the ancients never saw. We now have artificial satellites (like the International Space Station) that come into view and go streaking across the night sky at a very high apparent velocity. The International Space Station has an apparent magnitude of up to -5.9 making it one of the brightest objects in the night sky (even brighter than Venus). In order to view the International Space Station, it is best to look it up on the internet and find the time when the ISS will come streaking across the heavens.
The night sky is full of a myriad of astronomical objects. All it takes to observe these objects is some time, curiosity, and a willingness to know where to look. Tucker County is blessed with beautiful clear dark skies that make these celestial observations possible. For a first look, no instrumentations is needed. Just go on out there and take a look.
