Astronomical map of the starry sky online. Map of the starry sky: the secrets of the zodiac constellations
Summer is a good time for the first observations of the starry sky with children. The nights are short but warm. And the bright sky is good for teaching a child to find the brightest stars.
Today there are many different mobile applications that will show you the direction to any star or planet. Against their background, a paper map of the starry sky looks like a mysterious rarity. However, this simple device allows you to determine when and in which side of the world to look for the constellation of interest to you. With it, you can plan observations and perform research work. She has other possibilities, but about them in the following articles.
Mounting the star map
The whole device consists of two parts: a card and an overlay circle. The slot in the overlay circle is made depending on the latitude of the area.1. Download a map and overlay circle for your latitude. (You can find out the latitude of the area by simply entering “geographical coordinates ******” into the Yandex search box)
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2. Print out the map and circle. On A3 format, the map and circle will be much more convenient, but A4 will do for a start. The main thing is that the map and the circle should be printed in the same format.
3. The card can not be cut. For strength, you can stick it on cardboard, or, even better, laminate it. A laminated card will last much longer, a paper circle does not slip off it (because it becomes electrified and sticks), you can stick transparent stickers on it and make marks on them with an ordinary ballpoint pen.
4. The overlay circle must be cut along the contour, cut a hole inside (indicated by a red line). Laminating the circle is not worth it, but printing on thick paper would not be bad. In any case, over time, you can make a new one.
5. Glue a thread on the back of the card between points C and S. This thread marks the celestial meridian. It is more convenient to observe any luminary precisely when it is located on the celestial meridian.
Setting a star map for a specific time
1. First you need to make a time correction. Subtract 1 hour and 30 minutes from the current time shown by the clock. (This is an average value that is quite suitable for initial observations. In general, the correction is calculated based on the longitude of the observation site and the time zone number)2. Find the month and day on the edge of the card.
3. Find the time on the overlay lap.
4. Align the date on the map with the time on the overlay circle. Make sure the circle is in the middle of the map. In the slot of the circle there will be those constellations that are visible above the horizon at the specified time.
We make a time correction, subtract 1 hour 30 minutes from 21 hours 30 minutes. We get 20 hours.
We find twenty hours on the overlay circle (red mark), and on the map September 15 (blue mark)
> Star Map
Use sky map online in real time: a moving map of the stars, the names of the constellations with descriptions and positions, instructions for working with the map in the photo.
Interactive Sky Map
*For technical reasons, the application may not work correctly on mobile devices.
Star map is the first essential tool for those who cannot see life without astronomy and astrology. Especially for you, detailed information on all space objects available on any medium was collected in a convenient form. Movable sky map with constellation names northern and southern hemispheres is printable and provides a comfortable surveillance system showing what is above your head right now. All work is done with the mouse and the activation of elements in the base window. In the process, you can transform the image zoom as well as choose from a list of different view modes.
Star map with constellations in good quality, which can be easily printed out, will open up a lot of new things for you, since it contains not only the signs of the Zodiac known to everyone, but also reveals the most hidden corners of the Galaxy. Understand the process of operation and definition star coordinates will not be difficult, To understand how to use the map and its parts, you just need to read detailed instructions on the site. You can consider objects just at random, or you can enter specific names. In addition, photographs are offered along with the list, brief information about the location, distance from the Earth and brightness, as well as links to their pages with a complete set of information for those who study the stars professionally. For example, you can easily find the constellation of Orion and its components if you know the coordinates of the stars or use the search. Now starry sky online available during the day, and watch it can in real time without leaving the walls of the apartment.
Application instructions
Working with a mobile map of the starry sky will not cause difficulties. Our application is detailed map starry sky. The image below is the first thing you see when you enter the site.
The “viewing area” is our starry sky. On this specific example you can see its entire flat projection. Move the mouse cursor over any object inside the "area" and the information window "basic information" will automatically display the main scientific data about the object. You can click on the zoom bar. By zooming in and out, you resize the map accordingly.
There are two different view modes. This image shows the sky when the view is in normal mode:
And this image shows a view of the "viewport" in SDSS mode:
Use the "grab and drag" function - this is an operation to shift the starry sky in the Viewport. You need to move the cursor to an area, but without pointing to any object. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the cursor in any direction. The area will move accordingly. There are about 500 million stars in our databases. Only a small amount is displayed in one area at a time. By zooming in and decreasing the angle of view, you can also view the rest of the stars on the sky map.
In the end, you should end up with something like this:
In a specific example, the object has an apparent magnitude close to 19. This means that it can only be seen with powerful professional telescopes. You can also search for an object by its name or ID (identifier). Enter one of the two in the text box and click the "Find Object" button. If it is in the database, it will be centered in the Viewport. The scale of the map will be automatically determined by the system so that you can see the target.
Object page
If the mouse is close enough to the point of the object (or right on it), then its basic information will appear on the field. It includes identifier, name, constellations, exact coordinates, distance from Earth and apparent magnitudes. If you click on an object while the basic information window is visible, the object's page will open. It depicts all the photos, articles and external links about the star.
Photo gallery
In the main menu you will find the "Astrophotography" tab, which displays real shots of the starry sky.
Each field with yellow lines defines the boundaries of the photographs of the projections of the starry sky. When the cursor is inside the field, a collapsed version of the photo appears next to it.
If you point the cursor at the intersection of several fields, then all their photos will be displayed. For example, in the image above, the cursor is positioned at the intersection of five regions, and you see five collapsed versions of the images. If you left click, then change the mode to "Select Image":
Select the image you want to view in detail and it will download in full:
Hover your mouse over a photo object and the basic information window will open in the same way as the Viewport. If you click on an object, you will be taken to its page. You will see the current mouse coordinates on the sky map and links to the original source of the image right below it. Now you know how to use the sky map online to admire the unique pattern of the galaxy, find the necessary space bodies and the brightest stars.
When you first began to make observations of the sky, you probably felt regret more than once that you could not distinguish one star from another. But you really want to learn how to find the right constellation, planet or object in the sky.
We can help you navigate this variety of night fireflies. Do not be afraid, you will succeed, especially when you realize that there is nothing difficult in this. Moreover, in the age of the Internet, there are on-line maps of the starry sky and various virtual planetariums that easily display a realistic image of the sky in the right area, at the right time.
For example, for convenience, such a map is located by the link on the menu item of this site "Sky Map". We click on it and get to the page of the Astronet resource, where we enter in the proposed fields the data of the place and time of observation, the parameters of the map itself. Press "Go!" and a map will be loaded that can be printed or viewed from a computer monitor.
We also recommend the free virtual planetarium Stellarium for better visualization. It is great for an initial acquaintance with the starry sky. In it, also, in the program settings, it is necessary to specify the coordinates of your observation site so that it displays a real picture of the sky, and not the appearance of stars somewhere on the equator ...
Firstly, before you start working with the map, you need to orient yourself on the ground to the cardinal points in order to understand where you have North (N), South (S), West (W), East (E). You can use a regular compass, or if you know at least one of the directions, then it will not be difficult to determine the other sides of the horizon.
Nothing complicated, it takes place even in the elementary grades of the school. And if you know how to find the North Star, then determining the sides of the horizon at night will not be a problem for you. The North Star is always above the northern point of the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere.
Secondly, now back to the map. The cardinal directions on it can be indicated in Latin letters: N - north, S - south, E - east, W - west. Rotate the card so that the word representing the part of the horizon where you are facing is at the bottom. Then star map will present a picture of the sky that can be observed from the horizon to the zenith (a point on the celestial sphere located directly overhead) or if you use a complete "round" map of the entire sky, then the zenith will be on it exactly in the middle of the circle.
Thirdly in order to better navigate the variety of star points, people have long divided them into separate groups - CONSTELLATIONS, and mentally connecting bright stars with lines, gave them the names of animals or mythological heroes, depending on which figure resembled what. Today, astronomers use these ancient constellation names simply as 88 regions of the sky. With the help of constellations, they indicate in which of them this or that object is located. For example, if it is said that Mars is in the constellation of Cancer, then this will help to find the planet as easily as indicating that Bratsk is located in the Irkutsk region.
And fourth, more than 50 bright stars have their own names - Arabic, Greek or Latin. The names of bright or famous stars are indicated on the maps, for example, Vega (in the constellation Lyra). Although many other stars also have names, astronomers usually refer to them with Greek letters or catalog numbers, such as θ Cygnus.
But there are far fewer stars visible in the city than indicated on the map. This is primarily due to the citywide illumination from street lighting. And besides, the eye distinguishes only bright stars in the sky. Star magnitudes characterize the brightness of stars, i.e. how bright the star looks.
The magnitudes of the brightest stars are negative: the most "brilliant" star in the sky, Sirius, has a magnitude of -1.5m. The dimmer stars look, the greater their "positive" magnitude. For example, the North Star has +2m. Amateur telescopes are able to distinguish up to +14m star magnitudes, and powerful ground-based observatories up to +30m. The human eye can only see stars up to magnitude +6m.
The scales of the magnitudes of the stars will be indicated on your sky maps. Usually, the brighter the star, the fatter the dot will be.
If the stars were visible during the day, then we would see how the Sun moves eastward during the year against the background of the stars. The ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun against the background of distant stars, is also usually plotted on star globes and maps.
The ecliptic runs across the sky through 12 constellations, with a band about 16 degrees wide. Ancient astrologers called this belt of constellations the Zodiac. The belt of the Zodiac attracts special attention because the Moon and planets, when they are visible in the sky, also move near the ecliptic in these twelve constellations.
Well, there are only incomprehensible grid lines with hours and degrees on the map. These are celestial coordinates, as with the geographic coordinates of cities and objects on Earth. Knowing the right ascension (vertical grid lines and are expressed in hours and minutes) and declination (horizontal grid lines - in degrees), you can use them to find the location of a planet, star or asteroid in the celestial sphere.
And yet, remember that the appearance of the starry sky changes due to daily rotation Earth. Each subsequent night, compared to the previous one, the stars move slightly to the west. From evening to evening the same star rises 4 minutes earlier. In 30 days, these 4 minutes make a difference of 2 hours. In 12 months it will be 24 hours. Therefore, in a year the view of the starry sky will be repeated. The change in the appearance of the starry sky during the year is due to the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. Every year, the Earth makes one revolution around the Sun.
So nothing complicated.
In the next part, we will learn how to find the right objects in the starry sky.
Clear skies and successful observations!
vasily_sergeev in CHARTS OF THE STARRY SKYSTAR CHARTS
Links to star charts, constellation charts both online and static, as well as descriptions of services and programs for working with charts of the starry sky, space and more.1. Map of the starry sky and constellations
The most optimal, in my opinion, map of the starry sky. The equatorial part is built in a cylindrical projection, and the poles are in azimuth. Thanks to this, distortions at the junctions of these projections are minimized, but let it not surprise you that some constellations appear twice: on the maps of the poles and the equatorial one. The map is presented as an image in jpeg format with a sufficiently high resolution.
2. Google Sky
An interactive sky map that has no equal. A titanic work has been done, and from a huge number of photographs taken by the Hubble orbital telescope, a map of the entire starry sky has been compiled, zooming in on which you can see stars that are not visible not only to the naked eye, but even to an optical telescope from Earth. In addition, the service provides an opportunity to compose stars into constellations, see their historical images, as well as take a tour of solar system, view the sky in invisible infrared and microwave bands.
3. Service Google Earth (Google Earth)
Taking Google Sky and Google Map as a basis, Google programmers and designers went even further and created a browser program that, by connecting to a single database via the Internet, loads maps of the Earth and sky, as well as the surfaces of the Moon and Mars, onto your computer. The Google Earth project is booming and open to anyone who wants to contribute. For example, you can map a 3D model of your house if others haven't already done so.
Another service allows you to record videos based on the card, overlay voice or music on them and save it as a video file.
4. Photopic Sky Survey
Another interesting stunning project of the starry sky online with convenient controls. As in the previous Google case, the image is obtained by stitching together a huge number of real 5-megapixel photographs into a single whole and obtaining a circular panorama of the starry sky.
It is possible to overlay, as it were, a tracing-paper layer with constellations connected by lines, but, unlike Google Sky and Google Earth, the image cannot be saved.
Even ancient people united the stars in our sky into constellations. In ancient times, when the true nature of the celestial bodies was unknown, the inhabitants assigned the characteristic "patterns" of the stars to the outlines of some animals or objects. In the future, the stars and constellations were overgrown with legends and myths.
Starry sky maps
Today there are 88 constellations. Many of them are quite remarkable (Orion, Cassiopeia, Ursa) and contain many interesting objects available not only to professional astronomers and amateurs, but also to ordinary people. On the pages of this section, we will tell you about the most interesting objects in the constellations, their location, we will provide a lot of photos and entertaining video recordings.
List of sky constellations in alphabetical order
Russian name | Latin name | Reduction | Square (square degrees) | Number of stars brighter 6.0m |
---|---|---|---|---|
Andromeda | And | 722 | 100 | |
Gemini | Gem | 514 | 70 | |
Ursa Major | UMa | 1280 | 125 | |
Canis Major | CMa | 380 | 80 | |
Libra | Lib | 538 | 50 | |
Aquarius | Aqr | 980 | 90 | |
Auriga | Aur | 657 | 90 | |
Lupus | loop | 334 | 70 | |
boots | Boo | 907 | 90 | |
Coma Berenices | Com | 386 | 50 | |
Corvus | crv | 184 | 15 | |
Hercules | Her | 1225 | 140 | |
Hydra | Hya | 1303 | 130 | |
Columba | Col | 270 | 40 | |
Canes Venatici | CVn | 465 | 30 | |
Virgo | Vir | 1294 | 95 | |
Delphinus | Del | 189 | 30 | |
Draco | Dra | 1083 | 80 | |
Monoceros | Mon | 482 | 85 | |
Ara | Ara | 237 | 30 | |
Pictor | Pic | 247 | 30 | |
camelopardalis | Cam | 757 | 50 | |
Grus | Gru | 366 | 30 | |
Lepus | Lep | 290 | 40 | |
Ophiuchus | Oh | 948 | 100 | |
Serpens | Ser | 637 | 60 | |
Dorado | Dor | 179 | 20 | |
Indian | Ind | 294 | 20 | |
Cassiopeia | Cas | 598 | 90 | |
carina | car | 494 | 110 | |
Cetus | Set | 1231 | 100 | |
Capricornus | Cap | 414 | 50 | |
Pyxis | Pyx | 221 | 25 | |
Puppies | Pup | 673 | 140 | |
Cygnus | Cyg | 804 | 150 | |
Leo | Leo | 947 | 70 | |
Volans | Vol | 141 | 20 | |
Lyra | Lyr | 286 | 45 | |
Vulpecula | Vul | 268 | 45 | |
Ursa Minor | UMi | 256 | 20 | |
Equuleus | Equ | 72 | 10 | |
Leo Minor | LMi | 232 | 20 | |
Canis Minor | CMi | 183 | 20 | |
microscopium | Mic | 210 | 20 | |
Musca | Mus | 138 | 30 | |
Antlia | Ant | 239 | 20 | |
Norma | Nor | 165 | 20 | |
Aries | Ari | 441 | 50 | |
Octans | Oct | 291 | 35 | |
Aquila | Aql | 652 | 70 | |
Orion | Ori | 594 | 120 | |
Pavo | pav | 378 | 45 | |
Vela | Vel | 500 | 110 | |
Pegasus | peg | 1121 | 100 | |
Perseus | Per | 615 | 90 | |
Fornax | For | 398 | 35 | |
Apus | Aps | 206 | 20 | |
Cancer | cnc | 506 | 60 | |
Caelum | Cae | 125 | 10 | |
Pisces | psc | 889 | 75 | |
Lynx | Lyn | 545 | 60 | |
Corona Borealis | CrB | 179 | 20 | |
Sextans | sex | 314 | 25 | |
Reticulum | Ret | 114 | 15 | |
Scorpius | sco | 497 | 100 | |
sculptor | scl | 475 | 30 | |
Mensa | Men | 153 | 15 | |
Sagitta | Sge | 80 | 20 | |
Sagittarius | Sgr | 867 | 115 | |
Telescopium | Tel | 252 | 30 | |
Taurus | Tau | 797 | 125 | |
Triangulum | Tri | 132 | 15 | |
Tucana | Tuc | 295 | 25 | |
Phoenix | Phe | 469 | 40 | |
Chamaeleon | Cha | 132 | 20 | |
Centaurus | Cen | 1060 | 150 | |
Cepheus | cep | 588 | 60 | |
Circinus | cir | 93 | 20 | |
Horologium | Hor | 249 | 20 | |
crater | crt | 282 | 20 | |
Scutum | Sct | 109 | 20 | |
Eridanus | Eri | 1138 | 100 | |
Thanks to the observations of astronomers, it turned out that the location of the stars gradually changes over time. Accurate measurements of these changes require many hundreds and thousands of years. The night sky creates the appearance of an innumerable number of celestial bodies, randomly arranged in order to each other, which often draw constellations in the sky. More than 3 thousand stars are visible in the visible part of the sky, and 6000 in the entire sky. Visible locationThe constellation Cygnus from the atlas of Johann Bayer "Uranometry" 1603 The location of dim stars can be determined by finding bright ones, and thus, find the required constellation. Since ancient times, in order to make it easier to find constellations, bright stars have been combined into groups. These constellations received the names of animals (Scorpio, Ursa Major, etc.), were named after heroes Greek myths(Perseus, Andromeda, etc.), or by simple names of objects (Libra, Arrow, Northern Crown, etc.). Since the 18th century, some of the brightest stars in each constellation have been named by the letters of the Greek alphabet. In addition, about 130 brightly luminous stars were named after themselves. After some time, astronomers designated them with numbers that are currently used for stars of low brightness. Since 1922, some large constellations have been divided into small ones, and instead of groups of constellations, they began to be considered sections of the starry sky. At the moment, there are 88 separate areas in the sky, called constellations. ObservationFor several hours of observing the night sky, you can see how the celestial sphere, which includes the luminaries, as a whole, smoothly rotates around an invisible axis. This movement is called diurnal. The movement of the stars is from left to right. The Moon and the Sun, as well as the stars, rise in the east, rise to their maximum height in the southern part, and set on the horizon of the western side. Observing the rising and setting of these luminaries, it is found that, unlike the stars, corresponding to different days of the year, they rise in the east at different points and set in the west at different points. In December, the Sun rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest. Over time, the points of west and sunrise shift towards the horizon of the north side. Accordingly, the Sun rises higher above the horizon at noon every day, the length of the day becomes longer, and the length of the night decreases. The movement of celestial objects through the constellationsAccording to the observations made, it can be seen that the Moon is not always in the same constellation, but moves from one to another, moving from west to east by 13 degrees per day. In the sky, the moon makes a full circle in 27.32 days, passing through 12 constellations. The Sun makes a similar path as the Moon, however, the speed of the Sun is 1 degree per day and the entire path takes a year. zodiac constellationsThe names of the constellations through which the Sun and the Moon pass have received the names of the zodiacs (Pisces, Capricorn, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Aries). The first three constellations of the Sun pass in the spring, the next three in the summer, and the next in the same way. Only six months later, those constellations in which the Sun is now located become visible. Popular science film "Secrets of the Universe - Constellations" |