Learning Constellations

[defalkner]

I received an email announcing a new site for learning the constellations. I went to the site and thought it was very well organized. You can learn individual constellations in a flash card style. Then to test your knowledge of where they are in the sky with relation to other constellations there are puzzles you have to put together. The site coaches you on whether the puzzle piece is placed correctly or not.

I think this site could help individuals learn the constellations and help them toward earning their Northern Constellations A.L. pin.

Here is the site:
http://www.learnconstellations.com

I would appreciate any reviews of the site by responding to this posting.

[Dick Jacobson]

This is superb! I've just taken a quick glance at it but plan to spend more time later. I don't consider myself a beginner but don't know the constellations as well as I should. A great cloudy-night activity.

I have one quibble: why do they use the name "Herdsman" instead of "Bootes"?

[Enberg]

Could be a translation thing. Bootes the Herdsman. Is that website from a non-English-speaking country?

[Astrolaman]

After going through the first step, consisting of 27 constellations, I thought it was too easy because I only missed only Aquarius and Capricornus the first time around. Then I realized that there was a second step and was only able to identify about a third of that second group of constellations. I will be spending a lot more time mastering step 2 and based on this, my assessment is that this constellation teaching too is very useful.

Now all I need are a some clear, moonless nights so that I can get some practice at accurately capturing what is in the sky on paper. I have read some of the cloudynights.com posts on sketching techniques and look forward to having some fun with this. I am guessing that the trick to success will be visualizing a constellation on a blank page before putting pencil to paper and then keeping relative star positions proportional to fill a page. I think constellations like Hydra will be the real test for me.

-john hill

[Astrolaman]

Because of the poor weather I have been spending a lot time learning the constellations using the French tool Apprendre les constellation suggested by Dave Falkner. I am troubled by the finding that the constellation lines used for some of the minor constellations vary from other references that I own including The Night Sky Planisphere and others. I realize there are many interpretations of the constellations, but I would like to know whether there is a universally accepted reference that is the final word in the U.S.

Les Apprendre les Constellations is great for learning the essential constellations but seems to differ from other sources for the minor constellations listed below:

Scutum
Camelopardalis
Lacerta
Monoceros
Leo Minor
Vulpecula

For Monoceros and Leo Minor the variation is minor but for the others it is annoying because the star fields don''t seem to match up to other references that I have. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to resolve this issue, assuming that it is an issue. It is only an issue for me because I intend to sketch the northern constellation for an Astronomical League program. I guess an easy solution is to sketch star patterns and not include constellation lines.


-john hill

[Enberg]

There is no "universal" line-drawing standard for constellations. I tend to see the ones from Roger Sinnot's Pocket Sky Atlas pretty readily in the field, but there are others. Take a look at "The Stars: A New Way To See Them" by H.A.Rey (more famous as the author of the "Curious George" books about a little monkey.......

[Astrolaman]

Thanks for the quick response, Enberg. I think my problem is that I have too many conflicting references, including an ancient copy of Rey's book, where each author has re-interpreted constellations lines to aid the observer. I just checked my copy of Guy Ottewell's the Astronomical Calendar for 2013 and that has the most radical version of the constellations with curves and loops replacing straight lines between stars!

My real challenge is specific to sketching the northern constellations for the Astronomical League observing program. The major constellations are not a problem for me but variations in depictions of the fainter minor constellations, as described in my previous post, could result in sketching some of the wrong stars for that constellation. Your post leads me to believe that the Astronomical League reviewer will most like be forgiving since there are so many interpretations of constellation forms.

There seems to be fairly good agreement on constellation boundaries. Therefore, as long as I capture most everything visible to naked eye within a boundary, the AL reviewer will know that I saw the stars regardless of where constellation lines are placed.

-john hill

[jhairrell]

John,

I completed the constellation club (northern skies edition) a couple years ago. For what it's worth the references I used most often were the International Astronomical Union (http://www.iau.org/public/constellations/) and Stellarium. These were, at times, out of sync as you have indicated. So, if the lines were different in any one case, I chose the one I liked the best - certainly not a very scientific way to go about it, but it worked well. I wouldn't worry too much about missing stars due to a different interpretation. If you are plotting out all the stars you can see near/within the boundaries of a constellation (no matter whose interpretation you are referencing), I imagine you'll have more than enough stars for the reviewer to say that you've identified and studied the constellation. That said, I think you are right on the money when you predict the reviewer probably cuts a bit of slack when it comes to analyzing the sketches.

One thing's for certain: by the time you finish with the project, you'll be VERY comfortable under the night sky. Enjoy the project - it's a lot of fun!

[Astrolaman]

Hi Jake,

Your response is exactly what I was looking for because you completed the program and you know what worked for you. I will download the IAU charts for at least the constellations giving me trouble and will probably download all of them since they seem like a nice reference set. I also like the idea that they are free so that I don't have to spend more money on another reference.

-john hill

[defalkner]

One more suggestion would be to site the reference used for the constellation on the log sheet.

[Enberg]

Dave, that's a good idea - any citation on the edge of the sketch will make it clear which reference you are using.

Another question on these sketches - would it be ok, or possibly even wise, to pre-sketch (in pencil) major bright stars and the constellation outline, thus making it easier to recognize and fill in what you are seeing when out in the field? That's what I did for the very basic bright-star sketches required for "Universe Sampler" observing project and it worked very well. I recall erasing Orion's arm several times before I got my sketch to match what I was seeing that night...... Now that I'm starting on the Northern Constellations program, pre-sketching is a good cloudy-night activity to prepare for the limited good weather we have seen so far this season.......

[jhairrell]

Another question on these sketches - would it be ok, or possibly even wise, to pre-sketch (in pencil) major bright stars and the constellation outline, thus making it easier to recognize and fill in what you are seeing when out in the field? That's what I did for the very basic bright-star sketches required for "Universe Sampler" observing project and it worked very well. I recall erasing Orion's arm several times before I got my sketch to match what I was seeing that night...... Now that I'm starting on the Northern Constellations program, pre-sketching is a good cloudy-night activity to prepare for the limited good weather we have seen so far this season.......

You could consider doing that and I don't think you'd run into too many problems; in fact, it may make it faster to complete the program and you wouldn't have to take extra star charts with you out in the field. I'm always in favor of reducing the number of loose papers I have around when I'm out. I would just be careful about variable stars that might actually be dimmer or brighter than advertised on a particular star chart. I'm thinking specifically of stars like Algol. However, those situations would be pretty rare, I think, and you can always fix your pre-sketch to match what you actually see.

[Astrolaman]

Sketching the main stars of constellations is a great idea because it would allow me visualize a constellation on paper before going into the dark. I have a tendency to run off the edge of the paper by not planning how everything is going to fit together.

An issue that occurs to me is that the orientation of the constellations (especially polar constellations) changes throughout a night and for the time of year. For example, Gemini rises with the twins' having their feet up and sets with the twins' with their heads up and feet down after they cross the meridian. Unless advised otherwise, I plan on sketching the constellations oriented to the horizon as I see them during in-field observations rather than sketching with orientations as they would appear in a star atlases. This might help confirm to the reviewer that the observations were made at a certain time of the year and night.

But with this weather, being able to see the constellations is as rare as a monoceros!

[Enberg]

About the orientation of the constellations - I use the planetarium program "Stellarium" to preview my intended targets for observing sessions - so I would have a pretty good idea where my constellations would be oriented for a particular date and time. The international constellation boundaries might be a good thing to add to a pre-sketch, to avoid just the problem you mentioned of midjudging the spacing and running off the paper. I might try that with my next set of sketches.