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.