Welcome to Astronomy, Lesson #1

Professor: Headmistress Aisling Black In this class you will learn the turn meaning of celestial bodies and about the planets with all that surround them. Please take a seat so we can begin. Let's get started! A Scaled Model of the Solar System

Another way to give you a sense of the distances between things is to use a proportional (``scaled'') model. In such a model, everything is reduced by the same amount, so all parts of the model relative to each other are of the same proportional size. (In the same way a good trail map you use for hiking or the road map you use for driving is a flat scaled model of the terrain you are moving over.) To create a scale model, divide all of the actual distances or sizes by the same scale factor (in the example below the scale factor is 8,431,254,000), so the scaled distance = (actual distance)/(scale factor). The Historical Constellations In some cases one can discern easily the purported shape; for example, the

constellation Leo shown on the right might actually look like a lion with the dots connected as they are. In other cases the supposed shape is very much in the eye of the beholder, as the example of

Canis Minor (The Little Dog) shown on the left indicates. This certainly could be a little dog, or a cow, or a submarine, or . . . Any Questions? Constellations Are Not Physical Groupings The apparent groupings of stars into constellations that we see on the celestial sphere are not physical groupings. In most cases the stars in constellations and asterisms are each very different distances from us, and only appear to be grouped because they lie in approximately the same direction. This is illustrated in the following figure for the stars of the Big Dipper, where their physical distance from the Earth is drawn to scale (numbers beside each star give the distance from Earth in light years).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------The relative distances to stars in the Big Dipper It is important to make this distinction because later we shall consider groupings that are physical groupings, such as star clusters and binary star systems.

The Constellations of the Zodiac The zodiac is an imaginary band 18 degrees wide and centered on the ecliptic. The constellations that fall in the zodiac are called the 12 constellations of the zodiac. They were at one time thought to have great mystical and astrological significance. Astrology is bunk, but the constellations of the zodiac are still of importance because the planets, as well as the Sun and Moon, are all near or on the ecliptic at any given time; thus, they are always found within one of the zodiac constellations. Can anyone tell me why astrology is bunk? his is the list of constellations (by month) January Caelum Dorado Mensa Orion Reticulum Taurus February Auriga Camelopardalis Canis Major Columba Gemini Lepus Monoceros Pictor March Cancer Canis Minor Carina Lynx Puppis Pyxis Vela Volans April Antlia Chamaeleon Crater Hydra Leo Leo Minor Sextans Ursa Major May Canes Venatici Centaurus Coma Berenices Corvus Crux

Musca Virgo June Botes Circinus Libra Lupus Ursa Minor July Apus Ara Corona Borealis Draco Hercules Norma Ophiuchus Scorpius Serpens Triangulum Australe August Corona Austrina Lyra Sagittarius Scutum Telescopium September Aquila Capricornus Cygnus Delphinus Equuleus Indus Microscopium Pavo Sagitta Vulpecula October Aquarius Cepheus Grus Lacerta Octans Pegasus Piscis Austrinus November Andromeda Cassiopeia Phoenix Pisces Sculptor Tucana December

Aries Cetus Eridanus Fornax Horologium Hydrus Perseus Triangulum