Learning the night sky

Photo taken by Rogelio Bernal Andreo in October 2010 of the Orion constellation showing the surrounding nebulas of the Orion Molecular Cloud complex.- Rogelio Bernal Andreo

In just 17 minutes, this three video series walks the newcomer to astronomy through the concepts of learning the night sky to more easily find and identify stars and constellations. Learn the important components of the night sky like the meridian and celestial coordinates. See how to easily measure distances in the sky to find other stars, constellations and deep sky objects, simply by using an outstretched hand. And understand how magnitude works by relating it not only to stars, but to objects like the Sun, Moon, planets, and extended objects like galaxies, to more easily find objects naked eye, or with binoculars or a telescope.

Check out the Eyes On The Sky website at eyesonthesky.com and YouTube Channel .

Getting oriented to better learn the night sky: Stargazing Basics 1 of 3

Want to know more about the basics of astronomy? Learn how to orient yourself in the night sky for beginning astronomy, starting with the cardinal directions, and moving through the concepts of the meridian, zenith, ecliptic, celestial sphere, celestial equator and celestial pole - all in a friendly, easy-to-understand presentation. #withcaptions

Understand star magnitudes to learn the night sky: Stargazing Basics 2 of 3

Want to know more about the basics of astronomy? Learn about magnitudes (brightness differences of objects) in the night sky for beginning astronomy. Video discusses visual magnitude from the Sun through 11th magnitude, explaining the scale's logarithmic method of calculating brightness, plus the concepts of absolute magnitude, integrated magnitude and surface brightness - all in a friendly, easy-to-understand presentation. #withcaptions

Learn to measure distance easily in the night sky: Stargazing Basics 3 of 3

Want to know more about the basics of astronomy? Learn how to measure distance in the night sky, starting with the full sky and horizon-to-zenith concepts, and then discussing how to measure smaller distances in the sky with just your hand and outstretched arm. After viewing you should easily be able to find dimmer objects from brighter stars in the sky after consulting a current star chart. #withcaptions