Sky Atlas coordinates

[Alastair Rae]

As a newbie, I thought it would be good to buy Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas but when I started using it to hop with bins from one constellation to another I got confused. I got even more confused when I used it last week 20 deg further south than usual. The equatorial grid is a bit baffling for the beginner when trying to orientate the atlas.

I think you have to hold the book with the left side higher than the right. I'm guessing that the bottom of the book should make an angle to the horizontal equal to 90 minus your latitude? Then you can pan left/right horizontally on the page and in the sky.

What has me stumped is how to use the right-ascension to go from book to sky once you've tipped it over.

Anyone got any rules of thumb to help?

[Alastair Rae]

Actually, playing around in Stellarium with the equatorial grid turned on, I realise that the bit about tilting the book is total nonsense. Now, I'm even more confused that before.

[Alastair Rae]

Sorry for replying to my own post!

Playing around in Stellarium a bit more, I see that because the "longitude" lines (RA) converge on Polaris, you have to tilt the book so they point North. So when facing West, you have to tilt the left side up. When facing East, you have to tilt the right side up. When facing North or South, you hold the book level.

The intro to the Sky Atlas sort of assumes you know your way around the constellations already which makes it a bit hard for us beginners trying to figure out what's what.

[brantuk]

I don't know about tilting it up - never heard of that. What I would do is just get the page you want and turn the book to pattern match with the nearest recognisable constellation. Then memorise the star hops required from looking at the book, to looking straight up at the sky....

[rory]

agree, i just turn the page to match the angle of the constellation, but then again im easily pleased.

[Alastair Rae]

For us newbies it's hard to know which way is up! Say you recognise Orion and tilt the book to match but then turn left 90 deg and try to id the constellations there - they're not aligned with the book. And knowing which page represents 90 degs left is tricky too. This is where Stellarium on a netbook wins but there's a limit to how much you can carry.

[rory]

For us newbies it's hard to know which way is up! Say you recognise Orion and tilt the book to match but then turn left 90 deg and try to id the constellations there - they're not aligned with the book. And knowing which page represents 90 degs left is tricky too. This is where Stellarium on a netbook wins but there's a limit to how much you can carry.

im not really sure i understand . i think maybe your trying to hard here. perhaps someone with more knowledge than me can give you some pointers.

personally i just line up the particular constellation that holds the object i want to observe.

[brantuk]

Yes I'm not quite sure what you're saying here Alastair - Orion is a constellation but you may be confusing it with the Great Nebula in Orion - which is frequently just called Orion nebula.

It may help to have a session with members of your local astro soc who can give you a few hints. But if you align the Orion constellation with the one in the book then you should see all the stars laid out in the sky as per the book. Dunno how else to describe it for you

(Don't forget things move as the night goes on - so you'll have to gradually turn the book to match)

[callump]

I'm not sure the PSA is the best atlas to use to learn the constellations. You'd be better with a larger (smaller?) scale atlas - like Nortons, that shows more of the sky on each page. Or use the sky map in one of the monthly mags (collect a year's worth, then you can make your own atlas).

Then once you've worked out what you're looking at, then consult the PSA for more detail.

Callum

[Grunthos]

The intro to the Sky Atlas sort of assumes you know your way around the constellations already which makes it a bit hard for us beginners trying to figure out what's what.

Maybe you might use a trusty Planisphere to become more familiar with some of the main constellations?

It is not mandatory to have every star and constellation committed to memory! (In 40 odd years I've never bothered...)

Remember to have fun.

Sent from my GT-I9100

[glowjet]

Now the warmer nights are coming ( we live in hope ) you can lay back in your deckchair, with a pair of binos and a glass of something on a sde table to keep you warm, you can print off some star maps of the area you want to look at, put them in a clear plastic wallet and using a red torch teach yourself the location of the various major constellations which in turn leads to star hopping to the variety of subjects within these areas to look at with your scope. Not too much of the something on the side table mind, or you may start to find more stars than you bargained for

[iwatkins]

Indeed, I would also suggest a planisphere in the first instance.

It'll get you oriented and then you can use the PSA for finer detail.

Cheers

Ian