★Introduction to Stellarium★
Objectives
 Acquire basic astronomy skills
 Define and distinguish between systems of astronomical coordinates
 Become familiar with the Stellarium program and its user interface
Use Launch the Stellarium program. (Guide to using Stellarium or video tutorial)
1.
Set your location: Click on the Location Window icon (vertical toolbar, top icon). Specify
where you are by typing “ADELAIDE” in the search box.
2.
Set your time: in the Date/Time Window icon (vertical toolbar, second icon). It should
initially display the current and correct date and time. Let’s go ahead and see the sky earlier
this morning. Change the time to 6:00AM, and notice how dramatically your view changes. Close
the date/time window.
3.
Activate the horizontal toolbar by mousing over it. The icons on the right end of the
toolbar control the passage of time.
4.
Explore your landscape. You can navigate using the mouse or the arrow keys. Spin around,
look up, and look down.
5.
Now as you are confident to use the basic tools, try to find some objects from your current
location.
What planets are high in the sky tonight (10pm)?
What planets are near the Sun in the sky right now?
★EVERY STAR HAS AN “ADDRESS” IN SPACE★
ASTRONOMICAL COORDINATE SYSTEMS
There are several systems that can be used to locate objects in the sky.
We will distinguish between two coordinate systems (same as x and y axes on a paper):
azimuth/altitude (Az/Alt) and ascension/declination (RA/Dec). They can tell you where to look
in the sky to find an object, but not how far away those objects are from the Earth.
AZIMUTH/ALTITUDE (AZ/ALT)
6. Turn and face north. Toggle on the Azimuthal grid and examine the coordinate system.
AZIMUTH is the angle measured in a horizontal circle, around your horizon.
N =___ °. Head around the circle, and E = ___°, S = ___°, W = ___°.
ALTITUDE is the angle measured from the horizon (0°) to the zenith (90°, or directly
overhead).
Thus, any point in the sky that you can see can be specified by telling you which direction to
face (azimuth), and how high up to look (altitude).
7. Set your time for today, at 10:00AM. Locate the star Sirius, and record its Az /Alt
coordinates (clicks on the star, and information appears in the top left of your screen).
Sirius : Az ____________________ / Alt ____________________ at 10AM
ASCENSION/DECLINATION (RA/DEC)
8. Toggle between equatorial and azimuthal mount. The equatorial mount makes no sense if you
imagine you are outside looking at the sky with your naked eye, but makes sense if you imagine
that you are looking through the eyepiece of a telescope. Many telescopes are mounted parallel
Geography
equator
latitude
longitude
Astronomy
celestial equator
declination
right ascension
to the celestial equator, which makes adjusting to find
objects easy using RA/Dec coordinates. Does changing the
telescope mount change the location of the object?
9.
10. Toggle off the Az/Alt coordinates and to on the equatorial grid. You are now looking at the
right ascension/declination coordinate system. Locate the star Mimosa and record the Az/Alt
coordinates (RA coordinates are not given in degrees).
Mimosa :
RA __________________ / DE __________________
11.
Day &Time: 01/01/11, at 7:00PM (19:00). Locate the star Peacock in the south-western
sky. Record both its Az/Alt coordinates and RA/Dec. Move forward in time to 03/01/11 at the
same time, and record the positions. Continue to advance in two month increments until the end
of the year. Record your data.
Peacock
Time : 7PM (19:00)
Date
Azimuth / Altitude
Az
Alt
Right Ascension /
Declination
RA
Dec
01/01/11
03/01/11
05/01/11
07/01/11
Comment:
Notice that Az/Alt depends entirely on where you are located, and RA/Dec does not.
12. Relating this back to question 7, if you were an astronomer here in South Australia who needed
to tell a colleague in Perth (WA) about a sky object, how would you choose a coordinate system to
communicate its location, give a reason?
Answer :
13. Locate the constellation Crux. Identify the stars of the constellation. List the stars in order
of brightness α - the brightest star, β – 2nd, γ -3rd ,δ – 4th brightest)
#
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Star
Distance from the Earth
(light years)
★MOTION OF THE SUN★
 Learn what the ecliptic is
 Locate the zodiac constellations lie along the ecliptic
 Recognise astrology as a pseudoscience
The path which the Sun follows around the celestial sphere is called the ecliptic.
 Set your location to Adelaide, and the date to today.
 Turn on Constellation labels and Constellation boundaries; turn off display of the atmosphere
and the ground.
 On the left bar locate Sky and viewing options toggle, open it. In the Marking folder tick off
Ecliptic line.
 Follow the Sun's path across the sky in time. To do this, speed up time by using a double
arrow in the horizontal bar.
14. The ecliptic inscribes a great circle on the celestial sphere. What is the angle of the ecliptic
with respect to the celestial equator (defined to have Dec = 0), to the nearest tenth of a
degree? (Hint: Use the RA/Dec coordinate system.)
15. ZODIAC (zodiacal constellations) is the narrow band of stars that intersect the apparent
path of the Sun (ecliptic)
Traditionally, there were 12; however, in the modern system of constellations, there are 13.
List the constellations through which the Sun passes, in order. (Start with any constellation.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
16.
What prominent constellations will be high in the sky tonight? Circle any zodiacal
constellations.
17.
A Sun sign is a constellation of the zodiac where the sun is in on your birthday, According
to this the Sun is supposed to be in your sign of the zodiac on your Birthday.
TRUE FALSE
18. In what constellation is the Sun located on your Birthday this year?
19. Travel back in time to find out when the Sun was located in your Sun sign constellation at
the date of your Birthday. (Use the Time/Date window in the left bar to change the year by
hundreds)
20. Summarize your observation to prepare a short respond Astrology: Fact or Fiction?

what are some of the inconsistencies with 'sun signs' zodiacs and other astrological belief

position of the Sun and sun signs

has ever been science in astrology

create a presentation using Debut Video capture and Audicity to share your opinion it with
the class after the group activity “Mistaken sun sign’