When you get bored of just admiring the starry sky and want to engage in more or less serious research in the field of astronomy, you may have to face the problem of determining the coordinates of celestial bodies. To accurately determine the location of an object in the sky, it is not enough to know the so-called Cartesian coordinates. How to get out of this predicament?
Necessary
- - compass;
- - protractor;
- - a thread;
- - weight.
Instructions
Step 1
In the simplest case, use the horizon sides to determine the approximate position of a star in the sky. For example, the closest star to us, the Sun, rises in the east and sets in the opposite direction, in the west. At about noon, the Sun is on the southern side of the horizon. Therefore, sometimes it is enough to point in the direction of one of the sides of the horizon in order to be able to determine the position of the desired object.
Step 2
Use the azimuth concept to more accurately determine the direction to an object. It is the angle, expressed in degrees, between north and toward the object we want to position.
Step 3
Pick up a compass. Orient it correctly, aligning the zero division with the direction to the north. Now aim the compass sighting device at the point on the horizon onto which the celestial object is projected. The value of the angle between the direction to the north and to the specified point will be the azimuth by which you can determine the position of the star relative to the sides of the horizon.
Step 4
Now enter another coordinate that defines the height of the celestial body above the horizon line. It is expressed as an angle from 0 to 90 degrees. So, if the object is right at the horizon, its height is 0 degrees; if the star is directly over your head, the height is 90 degrees (this point is called the zenith).
Step 5
Use a regular student protractor to determine the height. Attach a thread with a weight at the end to the zero mark of the device, where the center of the circle is supposed to be. Turn the protractor over so that the bottom plane is on top. Aim the protractor at a celestial object so that the base line is in line with the light beam from the star to your eye.
Step 6
A vertically spaced thread with a load will indicate a certain angular value on the protractor scale. Subtract 90 degrees from this value, and you get an angle value that determines the height of the object above the horizon line. This parameter, in conjunction with the azimuth, will allow any person to whom you provide this data to find an object of interest in the firmament.
