The Night Sky

[j.sabourn]

For Budding Navigators.
Astronomers have divided the sky around the Earth into 88 areas , each of which contains a grouping of stars , or constellation. Many constellations were named after people and creatures in classical mythology, such as the flying horse Pegasus. Many constellations of the Southern Hemisphere were named in the 17th and 18th centuries after scientific instruments such as the telescope.
The North Star...Polaris is the star closest to the north celestial pole ; it lies at the end of the handle of Ursa Minor. It is actually a triple star system made up of two stars in orbit around one another and a single star. Because the Earth wobbles on its axis, the North Star varies over time ; in 12000 years it will be vega in the constellation Lyra.
Just taken two constellations of the Northern Hemisphere starting with A and B
they are Andromeda, Aquila, Aries, Auriga, Bootes, with another 35 to follow .
And in the Southern Hemisphere first letter in the Alphabet....Antilla, Apus, Aquarius, Ara, with another 46 to follow.

anyone who can name all the constellations in one go , can sit at the head of the class.

JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Yes John the stars at night are a sight to observe.
I recall seeing them on numerous occasions when lying on my back, very often in the high street.

[j.sabourn]

As long as it was the high street then you would have been that bit closer to them .Heres a couple more of the Southern Hemisphere to look for the next time your down there
Caelum or otherwise known as the engraving tool
Canis Major or the Great Dog.
Capricomus or the Sea Goat.
And the one you should know Crux Australis or the Southern Cross

Dont go to sleep on the job. Cheers JS.

[Doc Vernon]

Many a clear Night at Sea was amazing to stare up at the Night Sky, there was and is still so much to see , its a pastime that i feel a lot more could well d with, its not only Amazing but so relaxing too.
I sometimes use my Nikkon Camera (Fixed Lens) but extreemly powerful to try and see as far into the Heaven's as possible, and at times well worth it!
Cheers

[j.sabourn]

#4. Our galaxy consists of at least 200 billion stars and their planets . Just think of all the other galaxies we are not aware of. The heavens are eternal. In our galaxy there are only 9 known planets. Distances of some of the stars you see are immeasurable by our standards. JS.
The planets as we. Know them are ...Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, our brightest star is the Sun
As an aside to this Pluto was only discovered in 1930.
JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

John
On a clear night down here there are millions to be seen, reminds me of being in the Pacific on lookout. There was a TV show about the rockets they send up, my wife asked me if i had seen any, I remember seeing the first Sputnik circling the earth, now there's loads of them.
Des

[j.sabourn]

Its hard to realize that some of those stars that today you are looking at today may in real time no longer exist , as may have taken months or even years for that light to reach you and may no longer be there .
The life cycle of a Star ... created in clouds of cosmic dust and gas called nebulae. Within which gravitational forces put particles together to form clumps called Bok globules. Temperatures in these spinning masses soar to around to around 10,000,000 degrees centigrade ...forming helium atoms called as we know nuclear fusion , and a protostar is born.
Stars shine as a consequence of the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium.
How do I know someone told me in a book somewhere.
Pleased to say was not off the Internet.
JS

[happy daze john in oz]

The stars at night certainly ae something to wonder at.
I remember back in the 80's when Haleys comet went over, spent hours at night with the glasses looking at it and wondering if it will ever come to an end.

But even now on a cruise I still get a buzz out of going on deck late at night to stare at the sky whilst standing on deck.

But I wonder where it all began, every thing has a begining and an end, Earth was so I was informed began life as a ball of gas whirling around in space.
Where did the gas come from?

[Ivan Cloherty]

#4.
As an aside to this Pluto was only discovered in 1930.
JS

And that was by Walt Disney!

[Denis O'Shea]

The sky at night is one to behold even to this day, but at sea it was even better especially in the southern hemisphere always fascinated me. Den