How Far Can you See?

[skir]

Another daft question from me I'm afraid. But how far south can you see from 51 degrees latitude?

[melsky]

In theory down to -39 Dec but there's a lot of atmosphere near the horizon.

[skir]

In theory down to -39 Dec but there's a lot of atmosphere near the horizon.

thanks, so through the year which constellations would -39 run through?

[damnut]

Hi There,

Easier if you use something like stellarium so you can see the movement in the sky, can be downloaded from here :-- http://www.stellarium.org/

Cheers

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

At 53 north, I find 25-30 south is as far as I can get realistically, under good circumstances.

[emadmoussa]

You can see some trees and probably cars!!

[skir]

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You can see some trees and probably cars!!

[skir]

So I guess something like Sirius is as far south as I'll see?

[laser_jock99]

The answer is quite far. If you have a good dark southern horizon (e.g. cliffs on the South coast) then theoretically about -40 degrees in declination.

But what can you see? The best thing to look for are the brighter stars. A challenge list is given below:

Name RA DEC MAG

Alpha Canis Majoris Sirius 06 45 -16.7 -1.46

Alpha Scorpii Antares 16 29 -26.4 0.95v

Alpha Virginis Spica 13 25 -11.2 0.97

Lambda Scorpii Shaula 17 34 -37.1 1.62

Epsilon Canis Majoris Adhara 06 59 -29.0 1.50

Delta Canis Majoris Wezen 07 08 -26.4 1.83

Sigma Sagittarii Nunki 18 55 -26.3 2.05

Alpha Piscis Austrini Fomalhaut 22 58 -29.6 1.15

Beta Ceti Diphda 00 44 -18.0 2.04

Delta Scorpii Dschubba 16 00 -22.6 2.29

Epsilon Scorpii Wei 16 50 -34.3 2.29

Eta Ophiuchi Sabik 17 10 -15.7 2.43

Eta Canis Majoris Aludra 07 24 -29.3 2.45

Alpha Leporis Arneb 05 33 -17.8 2.58

Zeta Sagittarii Ascella 19 03 -29.9 2.60

Alpha Librae Zubenelgenubi 14 51 -16.0 2.64

Alpha Columbae Phact 05 40 -34.1 2.65

Beta Corvi Kraz 12 34 -23.4 2.65

Upsilon Scorpii Lesath 17 31 -37.3 2.70

Pi Puppis 07 17 -37.1 2.71

Beta Leporis Nihal 05 28 -20.8 2.81

Tau Scorpii 16 36 -28.2 2.82

Lambda Sagittarii Kaus Borealis 18 28 -25.4 2.82

Delta Capricorni Deneb Algedi 21 47 -16.1 2.85e

Theta Eridani Acamar 02 58 -40.3 2.88

Pi Sagittarii Albaldah 19 10 -21.0 2.88

Delta Corvi Algorel 12 30 -16.5 2.94

Gamma Eridani Zaurak 03 58 -13.5 2.97

Gamma Hydrae 13 19 -23.2 2.99

Zeta Canis Majoris Phurad 06 20 -30.1 3.02

Beta Capricorni Dabih 20 21 -14.8 3.05

Delta Aquarii Skat 22 55 -15.8 3.27

Xi Puppis Asmidiske 07 49 -24.9 3.34

Eta Ceti Dheneb 01 09 -10.2 3.46

Sigma Canis Majoris 07 02 -27.9 3.49

Kappa Canis Majoris 06 50 -32.5 3.50

There's some good stars to look for in this list, binoculars or a telescope will improve your chances. For naked eye visibilty Formalhaut is a good star to find.

[emadmoussa]

The answer is quite far. If you have a good dark southern horizon (e.g. cliffs on the South coast) then theoretically about -40 degrees in declination.

Spot on!

But what can you see? The best thing to look for are the brighter stars. A challenge list is given below:

Name RA DEC MAG

Alpha Canis Majoris Sirius 06 45 -16.7 -1.46

Alpha Scorpii Antares 16 29 -26.4 0.95v

Alpha Virginis Spica 13 25 -11.2 0.97

Lambda Scorpii Shaula 17 34 -37.1 1.62

Epsilon Canis Majoris Adhara 06 59 -29.0 1.50

Delta Canis Majoris Wezen 07 08 -26.4 1.83

Sigma Sagittarii Nunki 18 55 -26.3 2.05

Alpha Piscis Austrini Fomalhaut 22 58 -29.6 1.15

Beta Ceti Diphda 00 44 -18.0 2.04

Delta Scorpii Dschubba 16 00 -22.6 2.29

Epsilon Scorpii Wei 16 50 -34.3 2.29

Eta Ophiuchi Sabik 17 10 -15.7 2.43

Eta Canis Majoris Aludra 07 24 -29.3 2.45

Alpha Leporis Arneb 05 33 -17.8 2.58

Zeta Sagittarii Ascella 19 03 -29.9 2.60

Alpha Librae Zubenelgenubi 14 51 -16.0 2.64

Alpha Columbae Phact 05 40 -34.1 2.65

Beta Corvi Kraz 12 34 -23.4 2.65

Upsilon Scorpii Lesath 17 31 -37.3 2.70

Pi Puppis 07 17 -37.1 2.71

Beta Leporis Nihal 05 28 -20.8 2.81

Tau Scorpii 16 36 -28.2 2.82

Lambda Sagittarii Kaus Borealis 18 28 -25.4 2.82

Delta Capricorni Deneb Algedi 21 47 -16.1 2.85e

Theta Eridani Acamar 02 58 -40.3 2.88

Pi Sagittarii Albaldah 19 10 -21.0 2.88

Delta Corvi Algorel 12 30 -16.5 2.94

Gamma Eridani Zaurak 03 58 -13.5 2.97

Gamma Hydrae 13 19 -23.2 2.99

Zeta Canis Majoris Phurad 06 20 -30.1 3.02

Beta Capricorni Dabih 20 21 -14.8 3.05

Delta Aquarii Skat 22 55 -15.8 3.27

Xi Puppis Asmidiske 07 49 -24.9 3.34

Eta Ceti Dheneb 01 09 -10.2 3.46

Sigma Canis Majoris 07 02 -27.9 3.49

Kappa Canis Majoris 06 50 -32.5 3.50

There's some good stars to look for in this list, binoculars or a telescope will improve your chances. For naked eye visibilty Formalhaut is a good star to find.

[emadmoussa]

Stupid phone...I SAID: SPOT ON!

[skir]

Thanks for the list laser jock.