100 Bright Night Sky Objects

~Selected for observers in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

~Arranged in order of brightness; except constellations, which are alphabetical.

~Most objects in Section 1 are naked-eye objects, but optics greatly enhance them.

~Most objects in Section 2 require binoculars or telescopes. Enjoy, and God bless!

SECTION 1

Solar System (10)                                     Constellations (15)                              Stars (20)

Moon                                                         Andromeda                                         Sirius

Venus                                                        Auriga                                                 Arcturus

Jupiter (four moons with optics)                Bootes                                                 Vega

Saturn (rings with optics)                          Canis Major                                         Capella

Mercury                                                     Cassiopeia                                          Rigel

Mars                                                          Cygnus                                                Procyon

Uranus (optics preferred)                          Gemini                                                Betelgeuse

Neptune (optics required)                         Leo                                                      Altair

Vesta (asteroid; optics preferred)             Orion                                                   Aldebaran

Ceres (asteroid; optics required)               Perseus                                              Antares

(Pluto is too faint for most optics.)             Scorpius                                              Spica

                                                                  Sagittarius                                           Pollux

    “In the beginning God created              Taurus                                                 Fomalhaut

            the heavens and the earth.”          Ursa Major                                          Deneb

                                                                  Ursa Minor                                          Regulus

                                                                                                                              Castor

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”                    Polaris / North Star

“In the beginning was the Word…All things were made through               Mizar (double)

Him…In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”               Almach (double)

                                                                                                                              Alberio (double)

SECTION 2

Open Clusters (15)              Globular Clusters (10)    Nebulae (15)                 Galaxies (15)

Hyades                                 M22                                M42 / Orion                   M31 / Andromeda

Alpha Persei                         M5                                  M8 / Lagoon                  M33 / Pinwheel

M45 / Pleiades / 7 Sisters     M13 / Hercules               M17 / Omega / Swan     M81 / Bode’s

Coma Berenices                   M4                                  M16 / Eagle                   Sculptor / NGC 253

M44 / Praesepe / Beehive    M3                                  M20 / Trifid                     M83 / South Pinwheel

IC 1396                                M15                                 Cocoon                          M101 / Pinwheel

NGC 2232                            M2                                   Helix / NGC 7293          M110

NGC 2264                            M92                                 Cave                             M32

Double Cluster                     M10                                 M78                               M94

NGC 2362                            M12                                 Saturn / NGC 7009        M106

IC 4665                                                                        NGC 246                       M104 / Sombrero

M47                                                                              M27 / Dumbbell             M49

M24 / MW Star Cloud                                                   M1 / Crab                      M82 / Cigar

M41                                                                              M57 / Ring                     M51 / Whirlpool

M39                                                                              Flame / NGC 2024         NGC 2403

Teaching Astronomy for Adult Education - Astronomy 101: Sun, Planets, and More!

I. Introduction

   A. Welcome / Names / Course Outline / Plan for Night Observing

   B. Disclaimers

      1. My interest, equipment, study

      2. What I do not know – no science degree, limitations of my equipment (not Hubble!)

      3. My estimations/sources, lots of numbers and pictures, few formulae

      4. I will focus on what, where, compare/contrast, viewing – less on cosmology, how, why.

      5. My faith

         i. Scripture references; no offense: science always has non-Biblical or Biblical foundations

         ii. Genesis 1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Then God made two

         great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made

         the stars also.

         iii. Psalm 8: When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the

         stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of

         man that You visit him? (This passage greatly inspired my interest in astronomy!)

   C. Our Solar System in the Spring; Beyond Our Solar System in the Fall!

   D. Ask anything…I’ll try! What are your experiences, interests, and goals here?

II. Home Sweet Home – Earth

   A. Measurements/Other: images

      1. Diameter 8000 miles; circumference 25,000 miles; mass = 6.0 x 10^21 metric tons

      2. Sun is 93 million miles, or 1 AU, or 8 light minutes; Moon is 250,000 miles

      3. Rotation 1000 mph rotation at equator, 700 mph at 45 degrees north; slight bulge

      4. 23-degree axis tilt (seasons); elliptical orbit, at 65,000+ mph

   B. Moon: images

      1. Diameter 2000 miles, 1/80 mass Earth, other moons are < 1/1000 mass of their planets

      2. No atmosphere, no plate tectonics, no wind: the flag and footprints stay unless impacted!

      3. Rotation = orbit; eclipses; no humans since 1970s

      4. Viewing (note the downsides of a full or nearly full moon)

III. Inner Planets

   A. Mercury: images

      1. ~Moon in size and appearance; 5% mass of Earth

      2. 58-day rotation; 88-day orbit; 30-40 million miles from the Sun (very elliptical)

      3. Night -300 F; day 800 F; 0 moons

      4. Viewing

   B. Venus: images

      1. ~Earth in size and mass; Evening/Morning Star

      2. Atmosphere 96% CO2; 100x more pressure than Earth; 900 F

      3. 243-day rotation; 117-day orbit; 0 moons

      4. Viewing

   C. Mars: images

      1. Diameter 4000 miles; 10% mass of Earth; ~Earth in landscape; Martian Rovers

      2. -150 F to 50 F; 24.5-hour rotation; 687-day orbit

      3. Grand Canyon 3000 miles long; Olympus Mons 16 miles high; 2 small moons

      4. Viewing (never appears as big as our Moon!)

IV. Outer Planets

   A. Jupiter: images

      1. Diameter 11x Earth, 10% of the Sun; 300x mass of Earth (> all planets); 3-degree axis tilt

      2. 10-hour rotation (big bulge); 12-year orbit; 5.2 AU from the Sun; -230 F; rings

      3. 50+ moons; Ganymede (biggest in Solar System), Callisto, Io, Europa (< Moon)

      4. Viewing (Galilean moons, cloud belts)

   B. Saturn: PowerPoint Slide Show

   C. Uranus: images

      1. Diameter 4x Earth; 14x mass of Earth; 98-degree axis tilt; -350 F

      2. 17-hour rotation; 84-year orbit; 19 AU from the Sun

      3. 27 moons; methane absorbs red light from the Sun; rings

      4. Viewing; discovered by William Herschel in 1781

   D. Neptune: images

      1. Diameter 3.8x Earth; 17x mass of Earth; 1300 mph winds; -350 F

      2. 16-hour rotation; 165-year orbit, at 12,000 mph; rings

      3. 13 moons, Triton's orbit is opposite to that of the other 12 moons; 0-2 Great Dark Spots

      4. Viewing; discovered by two English and French astronomers in 1846

   E. Pluto: images

      1. Planet? (doesn’t “clear” its orbit); New Horizons in July; 5 moons; Charon and its eclipses

      2. Diameter 1600 miles; .2% mass of Earth; 120-degree axis tilt; 30-50 AU from the Sun

      3. 6-day rotation; 248-year orbit; -370 F; 100 lbs on Earth weighs 7 lbs on Pluto

      4. Viewing; discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930

V. Sun: images

   A. Diameter 110x Earth; 330,000x mass of Earth (99.8% of Solar System); 1.3 million x

   volume of Earth; 28x gravity of Earth; Surface 10,000 F; Core 27 million F

   B. 92% H, 8% He – 27-day rotation at equator, 36-day rotation at poles; 1 light year ~ 6 trillion

   miles; 26,000 light years from Milky Way center; 230 million year-orbit, at 500,000 mph

   C. Burns 600 million tons of H into He every second, producing the energy of 100 billion

   nuclear bombs per second, or one nuclear bomb per aspirin tablet size of solar mass per second

   D. Viewing; solar cycle on average 11 years: sunspots, solar flares, solar prominences, aurora

VI. Other

   A. Solar System scale (Bode’s Law: each planet is ~2x farther; Jupiter is 3.5x beyond Mars)

      Sun                              Basketball                               Center (SGHS)

      Mercury                       Pinhead                                   36 feet

      Venus                          Small Pebble                           Pitcher to home plate

      Earth                           Small Pebble                           1^st base to 2^nd base

      Moon                           Pinhead                                   3” from Earth

      Mars                            Pinhead                                   .5 football field

      Jupiter                         Golf Ball                                  1.5 football fields

      Saturn                          < Golf Ball/Rings: > GB          3 football fields

      Uranus                         Shooter Marble                       Town Pump

      Neptune                       Shooter Marble                       The Grand

      Pluto                            Small Pinhead                         BT Meats/Conoco

      Nearest Star                Basketball                                England

   B. Viewing the night sky – planets, stars, deep sky objects, seasons, tips; Star of Bethlehem

   C. What we are doing in space: ISS, Hubble (25 years), James Webb, other telescopes (plus

   huge ground telescopes); visiting Sun, Planets, Moon; civilian efforts; better science, weather,

   telecommunications, military, and even economics and medicine. Also, plainly, discovery!

VII. Solar System 2.0

   A. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Asteroids

   B. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Meteors

   C. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Dwarf

   D. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Comets

   E. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=KBOs

VIII. Conclusion

   A. Joshua 10: Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the

   Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over

   Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till

   the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun

   stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And

   there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for

   the Lord fought for Israel.

   B. History vs. Science: Scientifically impossible, and here’s why. But what if He did do it?

   The miracle would be all the greater! Moreover, He had a purpose in doing it, and it was for

   the good of His people (like other miracles). God is both mighty and good – that’s why I love

   Him and His creation so much!