Getting to know Constellations

[Olli]

Hi all,

im still relitivley knew to learning my way around the sky I thought I’d try and learn as much as I can before getting a scope ( spent the last year or so learning about the science of it all first ) and tonight is quite a good night ( not the best) but I decided to spend an hour or so learning my constellations as I’m pretty rubbish at knowing them all. However I went outside equipped with my binos, turn left at Orion and also Stellarium on my IPad ( made sure I turned on night vision  ). The most obvious place for me to start is Orion as it’s south facing my garden and I always seem to get a good view of it. In a hours session I managed to sort of memories three or 4 constellations. I say 3 or 4 because one of them was fairly low and trees were obstructing the view. Now the ones I’ve managed is obviously Orion  seeing the sword also betelgeuse in the top corner. (south east I think ) of that is  Cannis major with Sirius shining bright as always. After studying Canis Major  abit making sure I know the names of the stars. I turned right on Orion and looked to pleiades ( one of my favourite clusters) I then followed across Perseus and I kept following until the Triangulum. I tried to see the double cluster but I think my binos weren’t having it. After getting to the triangular constellation I tried to find andromeda and just about shining through the trees I could see it ( just).  So after finding Andromeda I decided to call it a night as my thumbs were about to freeze.

 I wanted to also know how did you learn constellations? Did you learn from books or from another method?

 

Thanks for reading  

[LukeSkywatcher]

When i started observing 37 yrs ago, i started with a pair of 10x50 bins and a planisphere. You certainly dont need to know all the constellations. I read once that if you know at least 1 constellation in the night sky during each of the 4 seasons, that you are off to a great start. You will be able to find your way around using books. 

The more time you spend observing, the constellations become very obvious and jump out of the night sky at you. Many times when im observing, all i can see are constellations. All the other stars seem to vanish. The constellations just seem to shine brighter.

Dont fret over trying to learn them. As you gain experience observing, they will become so familiar to you.

[geoflewis]

18 minutes ago, Dinoco said:

I wanted to also know how did you learn constellations? Did you learn from books or from another method?

Hi Dinoco,

It sounds like you had a pretty good session. I've been star gazing for well over 50 years (nearer 60 I think) starting as a 6 or 7 year old. My dad bought me a book by HA Rey titled 'A New Way To See The Stars', which has been slightly retitled as below....

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q%3Dtbn:ANd9GcRH497-oT61Um49xXMhTIDPzBnSkQgeh5EMTCS1Ry9dVohv26GL&imgrefurl=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Stars.html?id%3DsLq6qgB6FBsC%26source%3Dkp_cover&h=807&w=631&tbnid=yrf13DV1dih9NM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=124&usg=__GgbdGnAHVx-4Eif6taS9bvjvwEI%3D&vet=10ahUKEwib2M734JnZAhWmKMAKHeIsCi0Q_B0IsgEwDQ..i&docid=cPAdkaroFyrRoM&itg=1&client=firefox-b&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib2M734JnZAhWmKMAKHeIsCi0Q_B0IsgEwDQ

Its still inpublication and I bought my grandaughter the new version about 7 years ago when she too started to get interrested in astronomy. For me the constellation shapes set out in this book made more sense than the official charts.

I also started by learning the circompolar constellations, plus of course how to find Polaris from the Plough (Big Dipper). Next was learning the names brightest stars in the skies and their host constellations. That said I still only know a handful of constellations really well and find Stellarium on my laptop and iPhone really excellent tools for planning observing and imaging sessions.

Just keep at it and good luck.

Geof

[almcl]

Dinoco

Well done!  You've done much better than I did on my first outings a few years back.

Something I found greatly improved my constellation recognition was observing from a dark sky site with an unobstructed horizon.  Constellations that can barely be made out from my back garden (heavy light pollution) become far more recognisable when standing on a windswept piece of moorland 25 miles away!

I also found Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas very useful, particularly in conjunction with a piece of card with a circle cut out the same size as my binos field of view,.

Now I try and sort out a couple of new constellations each season.

 

 

[MarsG76]

Well done and congrats on your start into an astronomical amount of learning....

I initially started learning from books as a kid, later getting a 60mm refractor from my dad which allowed me to get some practical experience.

There was a time when I could have named most if not all of the main stars in every constellation, but as time progressed, and life got in the way, I forgot most of what I knew as a teenager... what I'm saying is, that with the smart phone and tablet apps, and star charts, knowing every start in the sky by name and magnitude is not totally necessary to have a fulfilling star gazing session.... but as time goes on as you spend time under the stars, it will just become second nature, you wont even realize when you start to know the night sky like the back of your hand.

even with just a pair of binoculars your celestial sphere will be opened beyond belief.

 

[Olli]

10 minutes ago, almcl said:

Dinoco

Well done!  You've done much better than I did on my first outings a few years back.

Something I found greatly improved my constellation recognition was observing from a dark sky site with an unobstructed horizon.  Constellations that can barely be made out from my back garden (heavy light pollution) become far more recognisable when standing on a windswept piece of moorland 25 miles away!

I also found Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas very useful, particularly in conjunction with a piece of card with a circle cut out the same size as my binos field of view,.

Now I try and sort out a couple of new constellations each season.

 

 

Thanks ! I’ve heard a lot of people on here mention the pocket atlas I’ll see if I can pick it up soon, the light pollution isn’t to bad for me usually but tonight wasn’t that great for some reason maybe it was still a bit early. But there is a big open field near me which I need to Try and go to one night also there won’t be as many trees blocking the view!

[Olli]

30 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Hi Dinoco,

It sounds like you had a pretty good session. I've been star gazing for well over 50 years (nearer 60 I think) starting as a 6 or 7 year old. My dad bought me a book by HA Rey titled 'A New Way To See The Stars', which has been slightly retitled as below....

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q%3Dtbn:ANd9GcRH497-oT61Um49xXMhTIDPzBnSkQgeh5EMTCS1Ry9dVohv26GL&imgrefurl=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Stars.html?id%3DsLq6qgB6FBsC%26source%3Dkp_cover&h=807&w=631&tbnid=yrf13DV1dih9NM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=124&usg=__GgbdGnAHVx-4Eif6taS9bvjvwEI%3D&vet=10ahUKEwib2M734JnZAhWmKMAKHeIsCi0Q_B0IsgEwDQ..i&docid=cPAdkaroFyrRoM&itg=1&client=firefox-b&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib2M734JnZAhWmKMAKHeIsCi0Q_B0IsgEwDQ

Its still inpublication and I bought my grandaughter the new version about 7 years ago when she too started to get interrested in astronomy. For me the constellation shapes set out in this book made more sense than the official charts.

I also started by learning the circompolar constellations, plus of course how to find Polaris from the Plough (Big Dipper). Next was learning the names brightest stars in the skies and their host constellations. That said I still only know a handful of constellations really well and find Stellarium on my laptop and iPhone really excellent tools for planning observing and imaging sessions.

Just keep at it and good luck.

Geof

Hi Geoff, thanks for the link I’ll have a look tomorrow . I was doing the same thing about the stars. Once I got familiar with the shape of the constellation I picked out the stars nex for example Rigel and betelgeuse in Orion helped me locate the shapes easier and also ones around it. Stellarium Is abit of a god send too. Especially using it on a tablet as it can track while you move ( not sure if you can do that on the laptop version)

[geoflewis]

2 minutes ago, Dinoco said:

not sure if you can do that on the laptop version

No, the laptop is no good for that, so I just use it indoors before heading out, or for planning an imaging session, mostly to check what's up and rising/setting. The iPhone is a quick reference if I need it once I'm outside. Cheers, Geof

[Olli]

44 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

When i started observing 37 yrs ago, i started with a pair of 10x50 bins and a planisphere. You certainly dont need to know all the constellations. I read once that if you know at least 1 constellation in the night sky during each of the 4 seasons, that you are off to a great start. You will be able to find your way around using books. 

The more time you spend observing, the constellations become very obvious and jump out of the night sky at you. Many times when im observing, all i can see are constellations. All the other stars seem to vanish. The constellations just seem to shine brighter.

Dont fret over trying to learn them. As you gain experience observing, they will become so familiar to you.

Hi Thanks for the advice, I know it’s not a must but I’ve always wanted to properly know the sky I know it’s slightly impossible to know Everything. After looking at the ones I have tonight I’m sure I’ll instantly recognise them in the next session. I’m going to start sketching them down too that should help  me as well  

[Lorne]

The issue with remembering in "the next session" is that due to our weather and lack of clear sky opportunities, the next session could be a month away... what was in the south tonight has been replaced by a completely different constellation..... all part of the fun!  Good luck!

[LukeSkywatcher]

Forget what you read about constellations looking like something.

Take Leo (the Lion). Yes, with imagination it looks like a Lion resting in the heat of the Sun (tail on the left.........head on the right). It could as easily be a Swan or a Duck......or any other animal.

To me, i think of it as a backwards question mark. The best way to remember constellations is to think what they look like in your mind.

 

My "star sign" constellation is Aries (The Ram). Its 4 faint stars...............looks nothing like a Ram:

 

In case you are wondering...............

NO, i have no time for "astrology". Aries is a constellation none the less.

[geoflewis]

6 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

The best way to remember constellations is to think what they look like in your mind.

Totally agree, e.g. I find Hercules by looking for a big ‘H’ in the sky....

[LukeSkywatcher]

18 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Totally agree, e.g. I find Hercules by looking for a big ‘H’ in the sky....

Thankfully the double cluster in Hercules is a naked eye object to me from home, so thats what i see. Take Cassiopiea as another example.

Its described as an Egyptian Queen sitting on her throne.

Gimme a break.....

Its a big "W" in the sky.

M31 (Andromeda galaxy) is also a naked eye object most nights for me, so i dont have to search for it, it is just there below Cassiopia.

Cassiopia:

 

Kind of hard to miss, but i always think of the Pleides (Seven Sister.........M45) as looking a bit like a shopping trolley. Its easier to learn/remember objects in the night sky as things which they look like to you.

[geoflewis]

12 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

Thankfully the double cluster in Hercules is a naked eye object to me from home, so thats what i see.

Did you mean M13 the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, which is also naked eye for me, but I have to find my ‘H’ first, then 2/3rds the up the upper half of the right vertical of my ‘H’? The Double Cluster is in Perseus I think, towards the left arm of the Cassiopeia ‘W’...

[LukeSkywatcher]

15 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Did you mean M13 the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, which is also naked eye for me, but I have to find my ‘H’ first, then 2/3rds the up the upper half of the right vertical of my ‘H’? The Double Cluster is in Perseus I think, towards the left arm of the Cassiopeia ‘W’...

Sorry. My bad..............i meant the Double cluster in Perseus (not Hercules). M13 is indeed a single cluster in Hercules.

M31 (Andromeda galaxy) is also a naked eye object from my garden (most of the time). 

 

 

[Luna-tic]

7 hours ago, Dinoco said:

 I wanted to also know how did you learn constellations? Did you learn from books or from another method?

Rome wasn't built in a day, and the sky wasn't learned in a night. You're doing it about like everyone else; reading and looking, and eventually memory will put it together.

I'm like Luke, I don't believe in astrology, but knowing the order of the zodiac helps me with where the constellations are relative to each other and which ones you see at a particular date or time of night. Stellarium is a great help for me as well, especially learning the individual stars. I know many by their traditional Arabic or Latin names, but I'm trying to learn the new Bayer designations, too. Wikipedia is a good source but you have to approach it by specifying what you want to know about. Beyond reading and studying, the repetition of looking every chance I get helps cement them in my mind.

[Pondus]

As a kid I learned alot of the night sky by memorizing the order of the Zodiac Constellations (this order still stick to my brain).

The fact that some of these Constellations were (are) very dim didnt matter, I knew the sequence in wich they appeared.

Adding Ursa Major (With the big dipper asterism), Ursa minor (North star), Orion (looked like a giant kite to me), Cassiopeia 'W', Hercules and then some, I think I knew more than 20 Constellations before the age of ten.

The big dipper was also a good starting point for Learning some of the brighter stars.

[Geoff Lister]

I started, many decades ago, with a Philip's planisphere (just Google "planisphere" if you have not met one). It gives you the "big picture" of the visible sky (clouds permitting) on an LP record sized disc. You just align the time with the date and you are ready to go, without the need for a power source, or boot-up delay. You can start with the constellations that you know, and use them as pathfinders for the next ones. I have a 51.5 deg. N one for use at home in the UK, and a 43.5 deg. N one for the south of France.

Nowadays, Stellarium, on a PC or tablet has added a lot of bells and whistles to the basic planisphere functionality. One big advantage, it adds the planets and moon; something that a planisphere can't do. There are many other good apps for tablets/phones, and the compass tracking overlays part of the sky on your screen, but Stellarium (free to download and use - without annoying adverts) is the undoubted benchmark for a PC. I like the way that, if you advance time from mid-afternoon, Stellarium will add the names of the brightest stars as it begins to go dark. These are the ones that I use for GOTO alignment on my mounts.

For me, Gemini is just a pair of stars on an extended line from Rigel through Betelgeuse. Castor leads Pollux across the sky (in alphabetical order), and as Castor is a double-star, it is a useful guide to seeing conditions. 

Geoff

[Trikeflyer]

6 minutes ago, Geoff Lister said:

I started, many decades ago, with a Philip's planisphere (just Google "planisphere" if you have not met one). It gives you the "big picture" of the visible sky (clouds permitting) on an LP record sized disc. You just align the time with the date and you are ready to go, without the need for a power source, or boot-up delay. You can start with the constellations that you know, and use them as pathfinders for the next ones. I have a 51.5 deg. N one for use at home in the UK, and a 43.5 deg. N one for the south of France.

Nowadays, Stellarium, on a PC or tablet has added a lot of bells and whistles to the basic planisphere functionality. One big advantage, it adds the planets and moon; something that a planisphere can't do. There are many other good apps for tablets/phones, and the compass tracking overlays part of the sky on your screen, but Stellarium (free to download and use - without annoying adverts) is the undoubted benchmark for a PC. I like the way that, if you advance time from mid-afternoon, Stellarium will add the names of the brightest stars as it begins to go dark. These are the ones that I use for GOTO alignment on my mounts.

For me, Gemini is just a pair of stars on an extended line from Rigel through Betelgeuse. Castor leads Pollux across the sky (in alphabetical order), and as Castor is a double-star, it is a useful guide to seeing conditions. 

Geoff

Geoff, What's an LP record disc ???. Only joking, it's a great description of a planisphere.

[brantuk]

When I first started astronomy I took Sky at Night and Astronomy Now magazines every month. The center spread in each always shows the night sky and it's current configuration of constellations, and the text always discusses interesting objects to look at within each constellation. Just by studying one or two constellations per month I soon got to know them all and their seasonal movements over the course of one year. There's no rush after all - they're always gonna be there in our lifetimes.

[Nyctimene]

Dinoco,

you have already discovered Orion as a good starting point to search for other constellations. Orion is one of the four key constellations for each season, the late Deep Sky veteran Walter Scott Houston points out in his book "Deep-Sky Wonders" (p. 217/18). He describes a method, developed during WW 2 at a celestial navigational school in Louisiana for constellation learning, which produced the best results in recognizing constellations for 500 cadets. Instead of using the Dipper's asterism, that changes the position with the season and time of night, four distinct constellations are used: Orion (for winter), Leo with it's prominent sickle (for spring), Scorpius (summer), and Pegasus' square (autumn). Starting from these marked star patterns, located in the South direction in the evening/night sky,you can easily explore the adjacent constellations.

+1 for the Planisphere and the Pocket Sky Atlas.

After more than four decades of observing, I sometimes still struggle to find some smaller and fainter constellations, as Lacerta, Lynx, Leo minor....;-)... the journey never ends!

Have fun!

Stephan

[Geoff Lister]

On ‎10‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 00:21, LukeSkywatcher said:

 

To me, i think of it as a backwards question mark. The best way to remember constellations is to think what they look like in your mind.

 

 

As I was doing my Synscan's brightest star alignment at about 05:30 this morning (well, brightest planet [Jupiter] + 2 bright stars [Regulus & Vega]), I saw the above triangle and reverse question mark, and that's how I will remember Leo in the future. Thanks LukeSkywatcher .

My star sign, Libra, is also very nondescript. Essentially a trapezium of stars, all called Zuben ... (last 4 stars in Synscan's "named star" list - so first 4 if you press the bottom right button) but, at the moment, with Jupiter almost slap-bang in the middle - so very easy to find.

Geoff

[Nyctimene]

21 minutes ago, Geoff Lister said:

reverse question mark, and that's how I will remember Leo in the future

The "reverse question mark", shown in Luke's star pattern, is the "Sickle" of Leo - more prominent and distinct than the triangle pattern to the east/rear. The "Sickle of Leo" is a common term amongst stargazers.

Stephan

[Geoff Lister]

I can see why it might be referred to as a "sickle", but I am right-handed, and on the odd occasion that I have used a sickle, (I prefer a mains-powered strimmer), it faces the other way from Leo's, as it did on the old Soviet Union flag. However, when my right arm gets tired, and I use my left hand, it does face the same way as in Leo. Perhaps there is a 'sinister' side to stargazing .

Geoff

[JOC]

I've struggled with constellations in the 1.5 years I've been doing this.  I know some obvious ones, Orion (where would I be without Orion), The Plough (big dipper - looks more like a plough to me!), the baby plough (little dipper - dunno what it's proper name is, but it looks like a baby plough to me so that's what I call it), Cassiopea - as noted above that my big W in the sky, Pleides I have no issue with, Gemini - if I'm on Orion I can usually fathom Gemini by a good turn to the left - The two bright stars Castor and Pollux are two I can usually sort out.  I'd love to get Hercules solved, but that's not happened yet and I can't say that I've spotted Leo.  What made me first aware of birthday constellations and their names was a child's book called Ludo and the Star Horse, I'd love to get those 12 worked out, but it's just not happening yet.