6 ms·

How do you locate celestial bodies like that? Is it just a case of paper maps and a compass?

by voidUpdate 14d ago

GJim 14d ago
You really need to ask? Lets just say there is no need for a compass!
- voidUpdate 14d ago
  Yes, I really need to ask. How does one locate Saturn in the night sky without an electronic aid?
  - GJim 14d ago
    > How does one locate Saturn in the night sky without an electronic aid? Seriously? You mean that _really_ bright star that is out of place on your constellation map / planisphere? It's a planet. Look at it and see which one it is. (BTW: Look at it a few nights later as it moves to work out its trajectory. Congratulations, you can now identify which planet it is anytime, no telescope needed.)
    - firmretention 14d ago
      SERIOUSLY?! You'd be surprised how few people know you can easily spot planets with the naked eye, in addition to many other little interesting things in life. You react as if he didn't know how to his shoes.
    - voidUpdate 14d ago
      I'm sorry if I'm not familiar with your area of expertise, that's why I'm asking the question, because I want to understand. There are lots of stars that are brighter than Saturn, even at its brightest. I don't know if I'd know if a bright point of light is Sirius or Vega or Saturn or what (I could probably at least tell if it's Polaris). I was just trying to find out how you go from a night sky to pointing at Saturn, or Mars, or Jupiter, unless you have a map showing you where it would be on a given night. Also, don't planets sometimes seem to move in non-intuitive paths, like Mars performing retrograde motion when viewed from Earth? If you were viewing the plants constantly, then sure, you could pick it out, but if you left a gap between observations, wouldn't it be a lot harder?
  - alnwlsn 14d ago
    Not who you're replying to, but I did this just the other day. First thing to know is what there is even to look at. If you don't know anything, look here: https://www.heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx https://www.heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx You'll get a better result if you put in your actual location, but whatever. Looks like Saturn is visible this time of year, and will be in the east around midnight. You can check this right now and it'll be about right for the next few weeks. You can step the time forward and see what how the planets move over time. If you don't do the above steps, you could probably make a guess, as the planets are the brightest objects in the sky, easily seen by eye. Then you point your telescope at it. I found mine in the trash and it didn't come with the spotting scope, so I kind of just have to guess where to point it. Use your widest angle lens, and move the scope around until you see something bright go by. You're close! Then you center the bright thing in the center of the view, and after the scope stops shaking because it's on a cheap tripod, you can see a very tiny Saturn, including the rings. Then you swap the lens for a more zoomed in one to see it better. The rotation of the earth means it will quickly drift out of view, so you have to constantly adjust your scope every minute or so to keep it in frame, until I fix the motor that came with my equatorial mount which is supposed to do this part for you.
jjav 14d ago
> How do you locate celestial bodies like that? Is it just a case of paper maps and a compass? I mean (based on peer replies) it does come off as a funny question, but I guess if you're young enough it is a totally legitimate question! Never thought of it that way. But yes, you have a star chart, or atlas. The North Star locates your north and everything else you can then reference from your chart. (I'm not familiar with southern hemisphere viewing) And after a little while you recognize the major constellations by sight, so you can orient yourself vs. the chart even if you don't see the North Star for example. Planets are different since their relative position changes all the time, so a static chart can't tell you where they are. But there are really only four planets you can see with eyes (Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) so you learn to recognize them pretty quickly.
- GJim 13d ago
  > I guess if you're young enough it is a totally legitimate question! I find it extraordinary that you assume a young person is incapable of understanding the concept of a map!
  - jjav 13d ago
    I'm not assuming, they literally asked. I am guessing on age though, mainly because for anyone who grep up when charts was the only thing that existed, this wouldn't be a question.
    - voidUpdate 10d ago
      I understand maps and charts. But generally, stars stay in the same place, so its easy to put them on a map. I was trying to understand how you put a planet on a map when it keeps moving around
      - aragilar 8d ago
        Planets travel along the ecliptic, so they're pretty easy to map.

How do you locate celestial bodies like that? Is it just a case of paper maps and a compass?

GJim 14d ago

You really need to ask? Lets just say there is no need for a compass!

voidUpdate 14d ago
Yes, I really need to ask. How does one locate Saturn in the night sky without an electronic aid?
- GJim 14d ago
  > How does one locate Saturn in the night sky without an electronic aid? Seriously? You mean that _really_ bright star that is out of place on your constellation map / planisphere? It's a planet. Look at it and see which one it is. (BTW: Look at it a few nights later as it moves to work out its trajectory. Congratulations, you can now identify which planet it is anytime, no telescope needed.)
  - firmretention 14d ago
    SERIOUSLY?! You'd be surprised how few people know you can easily spot planets with the naked eye, in addition to many other little interesting things in life. You react as if he didn't know how to his shoes.
  - voidUpdate 14d ago
    I'm sorry if I'm not familiar with your area of expertise, that's why I'm asking the question, because I want to understand. There are lots of stars that are brighter than Saturn, even at its brightest. I don't know if I'd know if a bright point of light is Sirius or Vega or Saturn or what (I could probably at least tell if it's Polaris). I was just trying to find out how you go from a night sky to pointing at Saturn, or Mars, or Jupiter, unless you have a map showing you where it would be on a given night. Also, don't planets sometimes seem to move in non-intuitive paths, like Mars performing retrograde motion when viewed from Earth? If you were viewing the plants constantly, then sure, you could pick it out, but if you left a gap between observations, wouldn't it be a lot harder?
- alnwlsn 14d ago
  Not who you're replying to, but I did this just the other day. First thing to know is what there is even to look at. If you don't know anything, look here: https://www.heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx https://www.heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx You'll get a better result if you put in your actual location, but whatever. Looks like Saturn is visible this time of year, and will be in the east around midnight. You can check this right now and it'll be about right for the next few weeks. You can step the time forward and see what how the planets move over time. If you don't do the above steps, you could probably make a guess, as the planets are the brightest objects in the sky, easily seen by eye. Then you point your telescope at it. I found mine in the trash and it didn't come with the spotting scope, so I kind of just have to guess where to point it. Use your widest angle lens, and move the scope around until you see something bright go by. You're close! Then you center the bright thing in the center of the view, and after the scope stops shaking because it's on a cheap tripod, you can see a very tiny Saturn, including the rings. Then you swap the lens for a more zoomed in one to see it better. The rotation of the earth means it will quickly drift out of view, so you have to constantly adjust your scope every minute or so to keep it in frame, until I fix the motor that came with my equatorial mount which is supposed to do this part for you.

jjav 14d ago

> How do you locate celestial bodies like that? Is it just a case of paper maps and a compass? I mean (based on peer replies) it does come off as a funny question, but I guess if you're young enough it is a totally legitimate question! Never thought of it that way. But yes, you have a star chart, or atlas. The North Star locates your north and everything else you can then reference from your chart. (I'm not familiar with southern hemisphere viewing) And after a little while you recognize the major constellations by sight, so you can orient yourself vs. the chart even if you don't see the North Star for example. Planets are different since their relative position changes all the time, so a static chart can't tell you where they are. But there are really only four planets you can see with eyes (Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) so you learn to recognize them pretty quickly.

GJim 13d ago
> I guess if you're young enough it is a totally legitimate question! I find it extraordinary that you assume a young person is incapable of understanding the concept of a map!
- jjav 13d ago
  I'm not assuming, they literally asked. I am guessing on age though, mainly because for anyone who grep up when charts was the only thing that existed, this wouldn't be a question.
  - voidUpdate 10d ago
    I understand maps and charts. But generally, stars stay in the same place, so its easy to put them on a map. I was trying to understand how you put a planet on a map when it keeps moving around
    - aragilar 8d ago
      Planets travel along the ecliptic, so they're pretty easy to map.