Approximate Location of Sky Objects Using Your Hand*

Two of the most difficult questions to answer regarding objects you

observe in the sky are, How big is it? and How far away is it? The second
question is actually less difficult to answer than the first, and can be answered by
a variety of methods, each of which is appropriate for a different distance range.
The first question is very difficult to answer without an absolute standard
of reference. For example, if you take a picture of a rock on a hillside, someone
else who looks at your picture, without having seen the rock in its original
surroundings, has no idea of the actual size of the rock. If, however, you put a
ballpoint pen next to the rock when you take the photograph, when you show the
photo to someone else, she can immediately judge the size of the rock by
mentally comparing it with a familiar object - the pen - whose size is commonly
known.
Imagine you are stranded on a dark country road, and a car with its
headlights on is approaching you. You can estimate its distance from you at any
given instant by the apparent size its and brightness of its headlights as they
appear to you. However, if you had never seen headlights before, how could you
judge their distance? It is only because you have a general idea of how big and
bright the average cars headlights are that you can estimate the distance to a
car on a dark night......but, you have never seen a star up close, so how can you
judge its distance and size, or the distance between stars, or the diameter of the
Moon, when you observe them in the sky at night?
The way we measure sizes and distances when we observe heavenly
bodies is by using some simple geometry...
Recall that there are 2 radians in a circle, and that the circumference of
the circle is 2 times the radius:
but if you sweep the radius through a smaller angle, the
arc length is a portion of the whole circumference, and is
equal to the central angle, in radians, times the radius

2R = circumference ... when the

central angle is 2 radians R = S
... where S is the arc length and is the central angle, in
radians
From this we can see that 2= circumference/R
similarly that = S/R

and

Taking this idea further, you can see that if you draw a small circle of radius r,
concentric with the larger circle of radius R, that for both circles the relationship
2 = circumference/radius is still true.
= S/R and = s/r so therefore S/R = s/r

It is easy to visualize the sky as a tremendous dome, so rather than measuring

absolute distances and arc lengths, we measure ANGULAR DIAMETER.

There is a really easy way to measure approximate angular diameters in the sky
by using the angular diameters of your fingers. You can calibrate your fingers
using objects on the walls of your room, by knowing the distance from the wall
and the absolute diameter of the object as follows:
Select a picture on the wall, and step back from it. Hold your hand out at
arms length. Close one eye, and hold up one finger, adjusting your distance from
the picture on the wall so that your finger just blocks out your view of the entire
picture. The angle subtended by your finger and the angle subtended by the
picture, as seen from your eye, are the same.

Again, letting s = the width of your finger, r = the horizontal distance from your
eye to your outstretched hand, S = the linear diameter of the object on the wall,
and R = the distance from your eye to the wall, the same angular relationship
holds true:

s/r = S/R = finger or the distance from you eye to your finger just the width of
the picture and the distance from your eye to the picture when you are far
enough from the wall so that your finger just obscures the width of the picture.
This works out because, for small angles which are less than 15o (or around 0.26
radians), the angular diameter and the linear diameter are very nearly equal.

So, you will now proceed to find the angular diameter of your thumb, index finger,
two fingers, three fingers, four fingers, fist, and open palm. You will then have
your personal tool for measuring angles in the sky. When you go out observing
with friends, and you are trying to point out a faint but interesting object, you will
be able to communicate distances and directions in the sky in an understandable
way instead of saying, Look up and to the right from that tree....
Procedure:
1) Find a suitable picture on the wall, or other conveniently flat object.
Close one eye, and stand where your thumb just blocks out your view of the
picture when you hold your thumb out at arms length. BE SURE TO HOLD
YOUR ARM OUTSTRETCHED AT THE SAME POSITION FOR EVERY
MEASUREMENT!
2) Measure the distance from where you are standing to the wall (R).
Measure the diameter[or width if picture is rectangular] of the picture (S). BE
SURE TO MAKE ALL YOUR MEASUREMENTS IN CENTIMETERS. (or inches,
it matters not - just be consistent!)
Record all your measurements in a DATA TABLE as you make them.
3) Calculate the angular diameter of your thumb in radians as = S/R.
(Since we already established that s/r = S/R = , you need only measure S and
R. You do not measure the width of your thumb or the distance from your eye to
you thumb.)
4) Convert your angular measurement from radians to degrees:
360o = 2 radians, so 360o/2 = 1 radian, or 1 radian = 57.3o.
DATA TABLE : Download and use the Data Table included in the Report form
for this lab.
Using your new-found tool: Now that you have a reference, go out tonight and
measure the angular diameter of the:

Moon

if available the distance between the outermost stars in the constellation

Orion

(If Orion is not available when youre making your measurements, select and
measure another constellation. Be sure to identify it.
Record these measurements in the Report form for this experiment.
* The Idea for the first part of this lab was developed and put on the Internet for anyone to use. In
appreciation we list the following credits: RAAP Introductory Astonomy Labcontributed by: Jatila
van der Veen, Adolfo Camarillo High School, and UCSB / RAAP