Unit 5: Exploring the Nature of Astronomical Phenomena in the Context of the Sun
Unit 5: Exploring the Nature of Astronomical Phenomena in the Context of the Sun/Earth/Moon System
VI. Developing Additional Central Ideas Based on Evidence about the Sun, Earth, and Stars
This section focuses upon observing seasonal differences in patterns of stars that are visible at night, tracking details about the Sun’s apparent daily motion, and noticing seasonal differences in regional climates. Interpreting these observations will be helpful in developing an explanatory model for the Earth’s annual motion around the Sun as well as for explaining why the Earth has seasons,
A. Noticing seasonal patterns in the night sky
People who live where there are few lights at night typically are very familiar with patterns of stars that are visible in the night sky and with ways in which these change with the seasons. People who live in cities typically are unaware of such patterns and their changes because of the many artificial lights that brighten the night sky. Some star patterns may be visible, however, if you look up on a clear night. During this course, try to do this frequently!
Question 5.33 What seasonal patterns are evident in the constellations of stars visible at night?
- Discuss with your group members any patterns of stars that you have noticed.
- On a clear night go outside and look up! Enjoy what you can see and create your own patterns among the visible stars.
- If interested in what others have envisioned when viewing the stars, go to a website such as https://www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/Constellations/constnavi.html or
http://www.astronomy.com/observing/astro-for-kids/2008/03/learn-the-constellations where you can read about the circumpolar constellations, those which are visible all year long, and about constellations only visible during different seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) in the northern and southern hemispheres. - To access an interactive map of the sky that can display what you might see on a clear night in your location, go to https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/interactive-sky-chart/. Click to open, enter your zipcode, year, month, day, and hour. To access names of bright stars, click the display option Star Names. To see traditional constellations, click on Constellation lines and later Constellation names.
Some constellations are visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres although the southern hemisphere constellations may look upside down from those shown below. Stars within a constellation look as if they are near by one another as seen from Earth; however, they likely are very distant from one another in space. In 1922, the International Astronomical Union defined 88 official constellations, (https://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/). Many of their names were derived from Greek and Roman mythology as shown in the star chart for the northern hemisphere in Fig. 5.50. For a similar star chart for the southern hemisphere see: https://maas.museum/app/uploads/sites/6/2016/03/sta