Absorbing Astronomy Information That You May Not Know.
January 22nd, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
How many astronomy facts are there for all the objects and phenomenon in the entire universe? Realize that the universe contains one times 10 to the 22nd stars, that’s a one followed by a string of 22 zeros. Now realize that many of those stars are surrounded by plants. Then consider all the moons that orbit the planets, the comets and asteroids, the galaxies these stars form, the nebulae and black holes and everything else out there. That’s a lot of data and facts and figures. Not every piece of information can be presented here. But it will be a lot of fun. Click over here for extra information relating to Click through here for extra information relating to zeiss binoculars.
How about the brightest stars as seen from Earth? Those are good astronomy facts. That’s discounting the Sun which is about 250,000 times closer than the next nearest star. The sun is so bright that it washes out all of the other stars in the daylight sky. For the purposes of this discussion, lower numbers for brightness mean a brighter star. In the scale we’ll use the sun is 26.73, and the moon is -12.6. All righty then, here’s the top five list.
#5 is the Arabic word for eagle or vulture, Vega. As seen from Earth its magnitude is .03. Just because a star looks brighter from Earth doesn’t mean it’s really brighter. Our sun, for example, appears brighter than any other star, even though it’s not one of the brightest in the universe. That’s because it’s so close.
#4 is Rigel Kentaurus, that’s Arabic for foot of the centaur. It sits about 4 light-years from Earth and has a magnitude of -.01.
At #3, by the known astronomy facts is Arcturus. The name means guardian of the bear in Greek. This star is 37 light years from us.
Canopus sits at number two. Named for the pilots of Jason’s vessel in Jason and the Argonauts, this star is the brightest of all of these top five. However, it’s 313 light-years away from Earth, so it looks second brightest as seen from this planet. -.62 is its magnitude is seen from the planet Earth.You will obtain additional invaluable info about You should find additional information about barska binoculars here.
#1 is Sirius, meaning scorching in Greek. Sirius is also known as the Dog Star because it’s the brightest star in the constellation of Big Dog. It’s only 9 light years from Earth. That’s second closest of these top five. It’s appears to be the brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of -1.44. This information doesn’t even scratch the surface of astronomy facts. But it’s something to consider next time you look into the sky.You will gain tons of supplemental valuable info about You should find oodles of extra invaluable information about astronomical binoculars here.
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Choosing a Telescope for Beginners
December 6th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Choosing a telescope may be daunting especially if telescopes and astronomy are new to you but you find yourself choosing a telescope as a gift for a family member.
With many different types to choose from which all have their various advantages and sadly there is plenty of rubbish around too. We can cut through some of the unnecessary confusion with a few basic pointers.
Whether you are buying for yourself or for someone else the first thing to understand is the fact that all those beautiful pictures you have seen before of marvellous colourful astronomical sights are not going to be replicated through the telescope you are buying. Not unless you are getting the Hubble Telescope. Confusingly, those pictures are often reproduced on the boxes telescopes are packed in, marketers getting their way!
The first thing to consider is how the telescope is going to be used and your budget. This is actually quite crucial for a few reasons:
- Small telescopes that are easy to carry around and set up are likely to be used more often unless the user is a particularly keen budding astronomer
- A large telescope allows one to achieve more but the bigger it is the more hassle it will be to transport and set up
- If you are in a light polluted area, a small refractor is often the best option than a larger scope as they collect less light (with its pollution) than larger scopes
- If you are using the telescope well away from city lights a large reflector can really perform well and the Dobsonian versions are so simple to use a child can do so
- Refractors can also be used for views across land too, though you will need a correcting eyepiece for the image to show right way up
Remember that all other things being equal the aperture of the telescope (its lens diameter) is the most important factor in what can be achieved in terms of views. The bigger the better at least as long as you can manage to lift and use the scope and you are not capturing all the light pollution near a city.
So taking the aboveinto account in choosing a beginners telescope if you are based near the city and probably not about to take your telescope to the countryside, I would choose a refractor. Try to get one of 70mm aperture minimum more if you can afford it.They’re easy to grab and set up on a whim.
If however it is likely to be used in the countryside and by a keen user, I’d go with the biggest reflector I could afford. They come into their own in good dark sky locations.
Bear in mind the big Dobsonians are really just big reflectors on simple mounts - great for the kids which is whay they are popular in schools.
Just about all but the cheapest telescopes can be ‘accessorised’ with motorised mounts, go-to systems and there are lots of different eyepieces and light filters etc. that can be purchased for the budding astronomer. A decent dealer will help you choose them wisely for your telescope choice.
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Astronomy Info - What Do You Understand About Astronomy
November 5th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
There must be a lot of astronomy facts right? Realize that the universe contains one times 10 to the 22nd stars, that’s a one followed by a string of 22 zeros. Now realize that many of those stars are surrounded by plants. Now think about all the moons that orbit the planets, and the comets, and the asteroids, and everything else in the universe. That’s a lot of data and facts and figures. This article, which presents astronomy facts, certainly won’t contain every fact. But it will be a lot of fun. Click through here for additional info on celestron binoculars.
How about the brightest stars as seen from Earth? Those are good astronomy facts. Let’s ignore the sun, it’s too close. We get so much light from the sun that when it shines none of the other stars can be seen. Keep in mind that in the scale for the magnitudes given, lower numbers are brighter. The son is approximately 26.73, with the full moon weighing in at -12.6. All righty then, here’s the top five list.
#5 is the Arabic word for eagle or vulture, Vega. This star has a magnitude of .03, and is 25 light-years from Earth. When looking at these astronomy facts remember that brightest from Earth doesn’t mean largest or brightest. The Sun is not the largest or brightest star in the universe or even the galaxy, yet it appears so bright because it is so near compared to other stars. You will obtain additional info on tasco binoculars here.
#4 goes to Rigel Kentaurus, or foot of the centaur. It sits about 4 light-years from Earth and has a magnitude of -.01.
At #3, by the known astronomy facts is Arcturus. That’s the Greek word for Guardian on the bear. Arcturus is 37 light-years from Earth.
Canopus comes in at #2. In reality it’s the brightest of all of these top five stars. But it’s 313 light years from Earth so it’s just second on this list as seen from Earth. It has a -.62 magnitude as seen by humans on this planet. You should obtain heaps of supplemental valuable information relating to pentax binoculars here.
#1 is reserved for serious, meaning scorching in the Greek language. It’s also called the Dog Star because it’s the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (the Big Dog.). At only 9 light-years away from Earth it is the second closest in these top five. It’s appears to be the brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of -1.44.
There are many more astronomy facts out there. But it’s something to consider next time you look into the sky.
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