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On 7/22/2012 9:49 PM, Bruce J. Pennino wrote:
> Went out last night and not many early stars to see to the SSW and west.
> The Naval Oceanography Portal is very helpful, but which stars come out
> first? My goal is learn a few very bright stars in each season. Alkaid
> is easily seen, but night has fallen? To the west,there were three stars
> in a curving upward arc; Denebola ,Mars and Saturn? Arcturus ? Still
> trying to make sense of LMT of Meridian Passage etc. Antares is pretty low?

Bruce

When I started, I made the assumption that I could not shoot it if I
could not identify/locate it. The "Night Sky" 2-sided planisphere is my
favorite low-tech tool for learning the night sky.

http://www.davidchandler.com/nightsky.htm

Despite its detractors, I am a big fan of the 2012D. It is not precise,
but with a zero magnification sight tube (available through Celestaire)
you have enough wiggle room to get close before mounting a scope.

Lacking a zero-mag tube, Alex has attempted to teach me (I'm afraid
often in vain) a method of bringing the body into close approximation
with the sextant by eyeballing with no scope attached. (I'll leave that
tutorial to Alex should he care to submit it.)

While there are some excellent programs available to assist in planing
your sights, I use a visual online source a ton. You can enter your
location and time and get a polar chart of the sky plus Hc and Az etc.
of any body to the n th. Go to:

http://www.tecepe.com.br/scripts/AlmanacPagesISAPI.isa

and click on "Navigator Star Finder"

Happy hunting,

Bill B

   

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