Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

Just out of interest


Citizen

Recommended Posts

How many on here can actually make out Ursa Minor with the naked eye? Obviously I can see Polaris but that seems to be it for me (even with my glasses on - only slightly short sighted)

I assume that is a measure of the lp in my area?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I can make it out fine over here on the base. I can make out the Orion Neb smear with the naked eye. LP Isn't the best here, but it helps being located outside the city about 10 miles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ursa Minor is how I gauge the viewing from my cruddy back yard. South I see barely anything because of the cathedral. North is not too bad. On a good night I can make out the whole constellation. On a bad night like last night I could only see Polaris, Kochab and Pherkad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ursa Minor is how I gauge the viewing from my cruddy back yard....On a good night I can make out the whole constellation. On a bad night like last night I could only see Polaris, Kochab and Pherkad.

Exactly the same for me. On an average night I can see Polaris and 4 or 5 of the other 7 main stars. I have a laminated chart of star magnitudes in the front of my note book and make a record of LVM for each sessions. Average entry for me is mag 4.25.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, usually, on a clear moonless night. Polaris and Kochab (both mag. 2) should be easy enough, and Pherkad (gamma) at mag. 3 is not far behind.

If you want to see the remaining four stars, delta, epsilon, zeta and eta, that together complete the somewhat distorted and scaled-down version of the Plough (with Polaris at the tip of its handle), then you need rather darker skies. The faintest, eta, at the bottom-left of the 'bowl', is mag. 5 so you really need a reasonably dark sky to see it comfortably. But there is a close neighbour (19) which helps to pick it out.

Kochab is bright enough that I have once or twice mistaken it for Polaris when polar-aligning - which is embarrassing...:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if, for some people, the inability to make out Kochab and Pherkad at the very least, is due to being unsure of their position?

At the risk of being a bit patronising, I attach a screen shot (from CdC) showing the orientation of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor at about 21:00 at this time of year. Kochab is beta and Pherkad is gamma. HTH.

post-14835-13387774765_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As per Rik and foundaplanet, I use the visibility of the 4 stars in the "bowl" of Ursa Minor as an indicator of a decent night of seeing. It's a truly awful night when Polaris is not visible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.