Canopus star

[Tetrachloride]

Last edited Sat Oct 15, 2022, 04:09 AM - Edit history (1)

I finally figured out what the bright star in the southern horizon is. Canopus of course.

Orion is in the southern sky, then Sirius is down and left. Canopus is even lower.

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Canopus is second.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopus

Northerners in the US will be unable to see it. Similarly, most European astronomers and some Islamic scholars of the Middle Ages were unaware of it. Egypt was aware and societies to the south.

Next, I hope to figure out a row of 4 stars directly overhead. (My latitude is equivalent to Tampa.)

EDIT: see the Sky link below by progree and me after that. < - - - -

[usonian]

1. Hi, Tetrachloride!

I went to the Sky Safari app and I had to change location to Tampa just to see Canopus. Too low for most of the U.S. to see, I think. So, here's what it says about Canopus and Sirius. Below is your zenith, so you would be seeing the big square between Andromeda and Pegasus, which are visible much of the time. HTH.




zenith (nicely marked)

[Tetrachloride]

2. ty for app suggestion. My night sky is blocked to the north by city lights.

So, -- Pegasus and Pisces constellations as the first step of next identification.

I am used to looking southward and tracking Jupiter every night. I lost track of Mars for a while, but I got it now. Its above Orion. I lost track of Saturn.

Venus is lost in the daytime.

Saturn is at its maximum around 8:00 pm.

I am 6 to 9 hours ahead of the Lower 48.

[Tetrachloride]

3. I knew it was a bright star to shine through

the atmosphere.

[progree]

4. This will help a lot, I think -- in-the-sky.org

https://in-the-sky.org/skymap2.php

(get rid of that deep space junk with that checkbox below the sky map and on the left side -- nobody can see any of that stuff unless they live 50 miles from the nearest street lamp, so its just clutter)

Anyway you can choose location (and the location is "sticky" in that the next time you access it, it will default to that location). It will default to the current time. But you can change that. And you can change the date.

I find it enormously helpful to look at it before I go outside at night.

[Tetrachloride]

5. Wow .. finally, a simplified map.

I thought it would be a lot more common to get a simplified map than information overload.

Search engines falling down on the job. Google used to be a lot more accurate.

))))

I kept the Elliptic, Planet Names and Star Names.

REGULUS -- wow, I thought that was Mars. I will check again tonight. 10 a.m. here.

I can give this to my students of any level. Just depends on the city lights. Big gz.

[progree]

6. I'm glad you liked it ... last night Mars was very close to the moon -- about 5 moon diameters away

from it.

From elleng this thread's OP, 3rd pic:
The little red disk near the right edge of the picture is Mars.