CELESTIAL GUIDEBOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Constellations
• Finding stars in the night sky
• The moon
• The size and scale of the universe
• Describing the stars position

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 2

• Regions of the sky and seasonal changes

CONSTELLATIONS

• Constellations are sections of the sky that contain recognizable star patterns
• Many cultures organized the sky into constellations that honoed their gods
• Constellations helped people organize the night sky and track the apparent motions of stars and planets

FINDING STARS IN THE NIGHT SKY

• In astronomy, altitude is the angle between the object and the horizon
• The horizon is the line where the sky and the Earth appear to meet
• The zenith is an imaginary line in the sky directly above an observer on earth.
• The zenith always has an altitude of 90°
• Altitude, zenith, and,horizon are important concepts to know when describing the locations of celestial objects

THE MOON

• The surface of the moon is corvered in luna rocks
• Luna has a different overall composition from the earth because its density is much
• The phases of the moon include, full moon, waxing gibbous, first quarter, and waxing cresent
• More phases are waning gibbous, last quarter, waning crescent, new moon

THE SIZE AND SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE

• Copernicus noticed that stars never shifted their relative position
• If the stars were nrerby, their position would appear to shift like the planets'
• Based on this observation, copernicus thought that the stars must be very far awayfrom the planets.

DESCRIBING A STAR'S POSITION

• Declination is a measure of how far north or south an object is from the celestial equator.
• The Ecliptic is the apparent path the sun takes across the celestial sphere each year
• The celestial equator is an imaginary circle created by extending the Earth's equater

REGIONS OF THE SKY AND SEASONAL CHANGES

• A constellation is an entire region of the sky
• Every star or galaxy in the sky is located within a constellation
• Modern astronomers divide the sky into 88 parts
• As we go around the sun each year, the constellations change from season to season

GLOSSARY

• Moon- a thing that orbits the earth
• Star- ball of burning gas far away from earth