be able to recognize stars and constellations

Three words for you, friends: Google Sky Map (for Android, so it’s actually five words).

It is absolutely genius, makes this a lot of fun, and I don’t have to get a stiff neck from looking up to the sky and down to my printouts of night sky maps anymore.

You point your phone to the sky, and it tells you what it is that you’re looking at. Stars, planets, constellations, the moon, even the sun.

It is incredible, and I will soon be able to mark this goal as finished, after all these years and frustrating previous attempts! YAY!!

Okay, so I have unexpectedly recognized Orion a few times now. One down, a gazillion more to go :p

I found out that there is going to be a free lecture and guided observation of the spring sight sky at university. There’s even going to be telescopes!

Here’s the scoop (in Portuguese):

22 de SETEMBRO Terça-feira

Oficina: Equinócio – Estações do ano.

Francisco de Borja L. de Prado

Observação do céu:

Olho nu: Reconhecer os horários e as posições das constelações na primavera.

Com telescópios: Lua, Júpiter e objetos de céu profundo.

A series of somewhat unusual events caused me to see (AND recognize) Orion tonight!

Those included a fire just outside my house, me having been up unusually late doing work for school and my mom accidentally leaving the porch light on. The point is, I stepped out to take a look at the remnants of the fire, at 2:30 AM. I turn to my side and… there it was! Orion’s belt! And then I could see the other stars that form Orion, including Betelgeuse.

It was REALLY exciting to recognize a constellation so unexpectedly and without any planning whatsoever :)

another failure…

Here’s a nice website for learning the night sky map:

http://www.quietbay.net/Science/astronomy/nightsky/

It’s too bad it only shows how to find elements in the Northern hemisphere sky. It’s a start, though. Orion, Jupiter and the Big Dipper are visible from the Southern hemisphere at some point along the year. Polaris isn’t, however.

So here is a link to finding websites that teach how to learn the stars that I can see from over here.

Went outside with a map of the night sky and I think I could locate Arcturus and Spica!

It is also worth mentioning that I saw a shooting star while I was gazing upwards :)

I have tried a few online tools for coming up with what the sky would look like at my latitude and longitude at a certain time, but I can never relate it to the actual sky… I always find myself looking up cluelessly, with a night sky map in my hands.

• http://www.astroviewer.com/
• http://www.nightskyinfo.com/
• http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/
• http://www.skymaps.com/

I’ll ask for help from someone with good map skills, like Boyfriend.