What can I see at the equator ?

[medwatt]

Hello,

Like most people, I have always been interested in astronomy and unlike some I have decided to pursue my favorite night hobby. I live in Sierra Leone, West Africa, which is just 7 degrees above the equator. I have always been amazed when I see photographs of skies in some parts of the world which seems distinctly different from the sky here; for one it appears colorful, its populated with stars and you can see a large moon. Here is quite the contrary; the sky here is pretty black with a few dots twinkling here and there. The moon also appears quite smaller. This has always been the reason my progress in sky watching took a standstill because I think a telescope or binoculars will offer no help at all when there's nothing to see. Today after reading some of the threads in the beginners section on what to begin with, I decided to depose the idea of a telescope and get a binoculars which seems appropriate for my current needs. So comes my question; I am not familiar with navigating the sky and I hope someone might tell me what I can see from my location given what I've already said of the place I live. I also read that constellations look upside down in the southern hemisphere. How will they appear to someone at the equator.

Please help.

Thank you.

[Steve Ward]

A very warm welcome to the forum ... 

I would suggest downloading the brilliant "Stellarium" , a free program that allows you to enter your exact location and then view the sky exactly as it appears from that place .

Found here .... http://www.stellarium.org/

From your near equatorial position you will get to see the best of both hemispheres , some incredible objects out of reach to us "northerners" .... enjoy your new hobby .... 

[carastro]

Yes, you should get pretty much the whole sky from where you are.  Binoculars will be a good start.

Carole 

[JamesF]

Polar alignment will be a bit tricky though

James

[hobsey]

Polar alignment will be a bit tricky though

May have a look on stellarium just out of curiosity.

[itmo]

Do you live in a city? Get somewhere dark and let your eyes adapt for up to 30 minutes. Near the equator you should be able to see almost everything. Also you have 12 hours of relatively dark time all around the year. While up here at 60 degrees north, we get 24 hours of light during the summer and minus 20 degrees celsius & clouds during the winter.  

[itmo]

Looking at google maps I would suggest trying a west-facing beach, or if possible the nearby parks.

[acey]

On a star map the "latitude" lines are called declination. How far north or south you can see depends on your latitude on Earth. At 7 degrees north you can theoretically see everything from the north celestial pole (the star Polaris, 7 degrees above your northern horizon) to declination -83 degrees (at your southern horizon), which is almost the whole sky, though objects near those limits (i.e. near your north or south horizons) will be difficult due to atmospheric extinction and perhaps light pollution. Which objects you can see on a particular night will depend on the time of year - a planisphere is the simplest way to check (ones are available designed for equatorial latitudes).

As you travel from north to south, things in the sky appear to rotate, so that they eventually look "upside down". At the equator they are turned on their side relative to the view from the north or south pole. Your view of the moon is like a rotated version of the view we get from UK, and similarly for the constellations. The moon looks the same size from anywhere on Earth  - photos make it look bigger. Photos also give an impression of colours in the night sky, which we don't see with the naked eye.

Binoculars are a great way to start - good luck with your observing.

[Scooot]

I'm on holiday 13° north at the moment and I've had one clear night so far to use my binoculars. It's very dark with hardly any light pollution. I was able to see much more here with the bins than I could back home in the UK so I think bins are a great first choice.

I don't quite follow your comment on the moon, it seemed the same size to me, but it did look great through the bins. I was also easily able to see m35 and the main star clusters in Auriga before the clouds rolled in and I could also see m33, all of which I would have needed my scope in the UK.

Good luck with it, I'm a little envious of your skies.

[medwatt]

Wow. First time I get so many replies in any forum !! Amateur astronomers are very nice  !! From your response, I gather I'm in the Goldilocks zone for amateur astronomy but for some reason whenever I look outside I just see a few widely spaced stars; nothing to tickle one's fancy. Just two days ago I noticed we had a very bright Gibbous but I had to use my brothers toy 8x21 binoculars to get a better picture. Even then it didn't look great. However, I won't give up. One poster said I should go west by the beach. I have been li

[medwatt]

Sorry . . . full post was not displayed :

Wow. First time I get so many replies in any forum !! Amateur astronomers are very nice   !! From your response, I gather I'm in the Goldilocks zone for amateur astronomy but for some reason whenever I look outside I just see a few widely spaced stars; nothing to tickle one's fancy. Just two days ago I noticed we had a very bright Gibbous but I had to use my brothers toy 8x21 binoculars to get a better picture. Even then it didn't look great. However, I won't give up. One poster said I should go west by the beach. I have been living just by the beach all my life so that's a plus. I already feel that I should just go outside and explore the entire sky with my naked eyes from the optimism in your replies. I hope someone can take a picture (with a camera)  of their night sky with no binoculars so that I can compare how skies look elsewhere compared to mine here. I'm still skeptical that the sky here can reveal much. The sky these days is very clear. We barely have any pollution here. My exact location is : Lat 8.488 and Long -13.229.

[Scooot]

This is your sky a few minutes ago, 9.21pm your time.

You say you can only see a few stars dotted about so I wonder how dark your skies are. If you don't have much light pollution you should be able to see these constellations.

[Scooot]

With the names on.

[itmo]

Also get away from all nearby lights and try to block them so that you cant see them directly, use trees or buildings or even your hand , or look away from them. Wait for atleast a few minutes, preferably half an hour. I live in quite light polluted area and when I walk outside from my lit livingroom , I can quite quickly see up to maybe 4.5 magnitude with my naked eye. On good nights I can see the milky way after letting my eyes adjust. So If you go by the sea and turn to face the sea and make sure you dont see any lights directly, you should be able to see tens or hundreds of stars and the milky way quite easily. Assuming ofcourse that you dont have  cloud cover or fog. Or full moon. 

[Scooot]

Sorry . . . full post was not displayed :

Wow. First time I get so many replies in any forum !! Amateur astronomers are very nice !! From your response, I gather I'm in the Goldilocks zone for amateur astronomy but for some reason whenever I look outside I just see a few widely spaced stars; nothing to tickle one's fancy. Just two days ago I noticed we had a very bright Gibbous but I had to use my brothers toy 8x21 binoculars to get a better picture. Even then it didn't look great. However, I won't give up. One poster said I should go west by the beach. I have been living just by the beach all my life so that's a plus. I already feel that I should just go outside and explore the entire sky with my naked eyes from the optimism in your replies. I hope someone can take a picture (with a camera) of their night sky with no binoculars so that I can compare how skies look elsewhere compared to mine here. I'm still skeptical that the sky here can reveal much. The sky these days is very clear. We barely have any pollution here. My exact location is : Lat 8.488 and Long -13.229.

Just seen your second post completing the first, so it sounds like your skies are very good. Next time you're out let us know how many stars you can count in the constellation of orion. From memory I think I can make out about 10 or 11 at home.

[medwatt]

Thanks Scooot. I have never ever witnessed a sky as colorful and as beautiful as the one you captured. In fact, I have only seen two colors; white and black. itmo, electricity here is bad enough for light pollution to be a factor. The sky is just black and we're well in the dry season meaning its not possibly that these are rainy clouds !!

[Scooot]

Thanks Scooot. I have never ever witnessed a sky as colorful and as beautiful as the one you captured. In fact, I have only seen two colors; white and black. itmo, electricity here is bad enough for light pollution to be a factor. The sky is just black and we're well in the dry season meaning its not possibly that these are rainy clouds !!

That was a screen shot off my iPad, not a photo. It's a software package that shows the night sky, like a map. You will only see black and white outside.

[medwatt]

Scoot, have you ever seen a night sky with a bluish tinge. I'm not talking about sunset/sunrise ? I went outside and was able to count the starts in my FOV. I'd say there are about 10 bright ones while there are other very dim ones too. But they all look like points in space twinkling. Apart from their brightness I cannot tell them apart.

[Scooot]

You need to look for some patterns to recognise some constellations, try orion its right overhead, look at the screen shots, look for the three stars in the middle making up what's known as Orion's Belt.

[Scooot]

This is orion, directly over your head, can you recognise it. Maybe you can see so many stars it's difficult, I don't know.

Ps got to sign off for a bit now!

[medwatt]

I think I recognized three close starts along a line that could be Orion's belt. The middle one looks faint though without any binoculars. I'll be getting a 15x70 binoculars next week so I'll be coming back here for help. Thanks for all your help !

[entropia]

When  I was living in Santa Cruz, Bolivia ( 17.8000° S, 63.1667° W, 400 meters above sea level ) I was not interested in astronomy but I don't remember seeing that many stars over there. Orion's belt is called Las tres Marias and maybe I am wrong but they look smaller and fainter compared to what I see here in North America.

But then I went to  a small town called Samaipata about 120 km away ( but 1600 meters above sea level). I was so amazed to see so many stars (and the Milky Way as well). It was one of the most beautiful skies I have seen. I think the altitude and little light pollution made the difference.

[Scooot]

I think I recognized three close starts along a line that could be Orion's belt. The middle one looks faint though without any binoculars. I'll be getting a 15x70 binoculars next week so I'll be coming back here for help. Thanks for all your help !

They're all about the same brightness so I think you must have some seeing difficulties, high cloud or just cloudy. Where I am now its lovely and clear during the day but at night it clouds up. You should be able to see Orion's Belt easily, so something's obscuring your view.

[vlebo]

I was in Kenya last year in January and remember how strange it was seeing orion tilted on its side as compared to what I was used to back home

[brantuk]

I remember Orion upside down from Johannesburg - and then watching it from the aircraft window as I flew back over the equator and it gradually turned the right way up (whatever "the right way up" is in space lol).

Also at the equator you'll see a thick white line on the ground that goes right the way round the Earth - and you can stand over it and be in both hemispheres at once (bit like when I go to Greenwich and stand either side of the Meridian line so I'm East and West simultaneously lol).