Lab 1
Sky Maps
The purpose of this lab assignment is to familiarize you with sky maps.
You will be using a Web program to create a sky map for the date and time of
your birth.
Due Date: Tuesday 12 Month
Grading:
This lab will be graded out of 10 points, broken down as follows:
Star Chart for the date and time of your birth: 6 points
Answers to 4 follow-up questions: 1 point each
Late Policy:
You may hand in your lab up to two weeks after the due date. However,
points will be deducted according to the following schedule:
Thursday 14 Month: 2 points
Tuesday 19 Month: 4 points
Thursday 21 Month: 6 points
Tuesday 26 Month: 8 points
Points will not be deducted for people with valid excuses for handing
in labs late. Valid excuses include: illness, family emergency, widespread
computer outage. We reserve the right to demand proof of any of these.
If you know in advance that you will not be able to hand in your lab on the
due date for whatever reason, talk to us and make arrangements.
Instructions:
Making a Star Map
Go to http://www.ucolick.org/~waters/project/chart.html. Follow the
directions given to make your chart.
Turning In Your Lab
You should give us the following, with your name on EACH page:
1. The star chart for the date and time of your birth, printed in accordance
with the Star Chart Printing Guidelines below. You should write your date,
time, and place of birth on the chart.
2. Your answers to OUR follow-up questions, which appear on this page below
the printing guidelines. (NOT the questions given in the online instructions!)
Star Chart Printing Guidelines:
To make your chart easier for your TA's to read and grade (we remind
you that TA's do have the right to deduct points for difficult-to-read charts!)
you should use the following guidelines to print the chart that you hand in:
1. The ecliptic and equator should be shown, as should the Moon and planets,
but deep-sky objects should not be shown.
2. Constellation outlines should not be shown, but the names and boundaries
should be shown. You may align the constellation names with the horizon
or not, whichever you like.
3. Only stars brighter than magnitude 5.5 should be shown. Star names should
be given only for stars brighter than magnitude 1.5. No Bayer-Flamsteed codes
should be given.
4. You should not invert north and south. The color scheme should be black
on a white background.
Follow-up Questions:
1. How many zodiacal constellations are there?
2. Are they all the same size?
Hint 1: Print your birth chart first, then use today's chart to answer these
two questions. First look at the chart for now, then add or subtract 12 hours
to the current time.
Hint 2: A zodiacal constellation is any constellation that contains part of
the ecliptic within its boundaries. To see the constellation boundaries
better, go to the Display menu. Under "Constellations," select "Names" and
"Boundaries," and de-select "Outlines." It may also be helpful to change the
color scheme to black on white.
3. What constellation was the Sun in when you were born? (If it was on the
border between two constellations, give both) Is it the same as your
astrological sign from the list below?
Aries: Mar 21 - Apr 19
Taurus: Apr 20 - May 20
Gemini: May 21 - Jun 21
Cancer: Jun 22 - Jul 22
Leo: Jul 23 - Aug 21
Virgo: Aug 22 - Sep 22
Libra: Sep 23 - Oct 21
Scorpio: Oct 22 - Nov 21
Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21
Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19
Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 19
Pisces: Feb 20 - Mar 20
4. Are the Moon and planets always found exactly on the ecliptic?
Some possibly helpful hints:
Making Your Chart:
This page will first create a chart for your observing site right now.
WARNING: If you click on a chart to zoom in, the program UNDOES any
modifications you have made with the "Update" button. For example, if you
make a chart for your birth date and time, then click on it to zoom in, the
program changes the chart to be one for the current date and time, and undoes
any other changes you have made.
After it makes a chart for now, go to the "Date and Time" menu. Select the
diamond beside "Universal Time" and enter your birth date and time in
Universal Time.
Time conversions:
Pacific Standard Time: add 8 hours for UT
Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Time: add 7 hours
Central Standard Time/Mountain Daylight Time: add 6 hours
Eastern Standard Time/Central Daylight Time: add 5 hours
Eastern Daylight Time: add 4 hours
If you don't know if you were born during daylight saving time, you may assume
that it has always started April 1 and ended October 31.
If you were born outside the continental US, email me (lharden@ucolick.org)
and we'll try to figure it out.
If you don't know what time you were born, use 12 midnight.
Reading and Printing Your Chart:
The charts can be fairly hard to read in the default mode. Go to the "Display
Options" menu below the "Observing Site" menu. Select "Ecliptic and Equator"
and
"Moon and Planets," and de-select "Deep-Sky Objects." Under "Constellations,"
de-select "Outlines," and select "Boundaries" and "Names." (See Note 1 for
the difference between constellation outlines and boundaries) Under "Stars,"
you can keep the limiting magnitude at 5.5, but it is helpful to change the
"Names for magnitude 2.5 and brighter" to read "Names for magnitude 1.5 and
brighter." De-select "Bayer-Flamsteed codes." Under "Colour scheme," choose
"Black on white background" from the pull-down menu.
Printing hardcopies of charts causes all kinds of problems. I suggest you
print a chart from this page sometime before the class before this lab is
due- then, if you're having trouble printing, you can get help. In the
vast majority of cases, printing problems WILL NOT be considered a valid
excuse for handing in your lab late, and points WILL be deducted.