Constellations Name _______________________________________________ Section_______________________ Team members______________________________________________________________________ In ancient times,...

answer questions


Constellations Name _______________________________________________ Section_______________________ Team members______________________________________________________________________ In ancient times, stargazers looked up at the heavens. They put stars that appeared close together into groups called constellations. They form animals objects and gods. Even astronomers today use constellations as references for the location of objects in the sky. They are very useful for both amateur and professional astronomers. Stellarium is an excellent tool to increase your understanding of the constellations and coordinate systems used in astronomy. You have learned enough basic skills in the first lab to work your way through this lab. You also have the user manual if you get stuck. Although some of these questions can be answered by surfing the web, you will have a better learning experience exploring the heaven with Stellarium. Zodiac: Star are grouped together. Please only use Stellarium to answer the following questions. Only use other sources when asked. 1. What are the 12 zodiac in alphabetical order? 2. Search for the 12 zodiac in Stellarium. Without worrying about alphabetical order, are the 12 zodiac located in random places in the sky or they in a specific area/band/zone? (random or specific) 3. Which shape in the sky are the 12 zodiac in: straight line, a band (a ring), random a curved line? 4. Each zodiac represents roughly a 30 day period of the year. What situation in the sky indicates which zodiac in current. (Research this online?) 5. Use Stellarium to verify answer 4. Is it correct or is it off? 6. If given a date, is it possible to predict the zodiac sign? 7. Using ONLY the reasoning in answer 4 and Stellarium, what is the should the zodiac sign be October 14 2025? 8. Research online what the actual zodiac sign should be on October 14 2025? 9. What would you adjust in answer 4 to compensate for the difference (if needed)? Other star formations: There are other constellations and star formations beside the 12 zodiac. Please only use Stellarium to answer the following questions. Only use other sources when asked. 10. What is the name of the star at the end of the little dipper's handle? 11. Stars like the one in the question above are used to find constellations. What are stars like this called? 12. What is the brightest star in the little dipper? What are other names for the little dipper? 13. What on Stellarium tells you it is the brightest? 14. The big and little dipper are not full constellations. They are parts of constellations. What are they called? 15. What is the Egyptian name for Ursa Major? How did you find the information of Stellarium? 16. What is the distance from nose to tail of Ursa Major in degrees? (Hint: Think of the stars not the picture.) 17. What is the first fully visible constellation in the south October 22nd 8:00pm? 18. If you look north from New York City, which constellations seem not to set? 19. Why are these constellations not setting? 20. In New York City on October 24 201608:00pm, which Zodiac constellations are visible? 21. What is the upper constellation between Bootes and Ursa Major 22. Which stars make up the head of Draco 23. What are the names of the two stars in the constellation above? 24. What are the names of the stars are in the Pleiades? What is the Pleiades's other name? 25. Which constellation is the Pleiades in? 26. Which stars seem to be the eyes of Medusa? 27. Which star could be considered her nose? Position on Earth: The position of the observer is important when looking a constellations. Please only use Stellarium to answer the following questions. 28. Where on Earth would you have to be for Polaris to be at your zenith? 29. Where on Earth would you have to be for Polaris to be at your nadir? 30. Approximately, where on Earth would you have be for Polaris to be on the horizon? Which direction would it be? 31. Why can't a person in Antarctica use the little dipper to find the north direction? 32. How are constellations useful to astronomers?