Sky Scavenger Hunt Earth & Sky
Name:
Introduction
In this activity you will attempt to show the TA the most objects from the following list in the least amount of time with the small telescopes that have been set up.
Scavenger Hunt List
Alpha Ursae Minoris (α UMi): Polaris (Hint: This is the North Star)
Alpha Bo¨otis(α Boo): Arcturus (Hint: Arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica)
Zeta Ursae Majoris (ζ UMa) and 80 Ursae Majoris: Mizar and Alcor (Hint: An optical double star in the Big Dipper)
The Summer Triangle:
Alpha Lyrae (α Lyr): Vega Alpha Aquilae (α Aql): Altair Alpha Cygni (α Cyg): Deneb
Alpha Aurigae (α Aur): Capella
A Planet (Hint: It should be brighter than most stars, and not notable on the star charts below)
M45: The Pleiades (Hint: It’s a cluster of stars that should be visible to the naked eye)
Beta Persei (β Per): Algol
M31: Andromeda Galaxy (Hint: It’s a fuzzy blob near the Great Square of Pegasus)
Beta Pegasi (β Peg): Scheat
Gamma Pegasi (γ Peg): Algenib
Gamma Arietis (γ Ari): Mesarthim (Hint: It’s not the bright star, but rather the dimmer star the arrow points to.)
1 Eta Cassiopeiae (η Cas)
Gamma Andromedae (γ And): Almach
Omicron Ceti (o Cet): Mira (Hint: This one is hard, as Mira is highly variable, going from a maximum magnitude of 2.0 to a minimum magnitude of 10.1. If it’s an the wrong point in its cycle, you might not be able to find it at all.)
Alpha Ursae Majoris (α UMa): Dubhe
Beta Ursae Majoris (β UMa): Merak
Beta Cygni (β Cyg): Albireo
Alpha Piscis Austrini (α PsA): Fomalhaut
Epsilon Sagittarii ( Sgr)
2 Deneb Vega
Eta Cassiopeiae
Polaris
Mizar and Alcor
Dubhe Capella Merak
Figure 1: The northern sky at 9PM on October 1
3 Eta Cassiopeiae
Scheat
M31
Almach
Algol
Algenib
Mesarthim
The Pleiades
Mira
Figure 2: The eastern sky at 9PM on October 1
4 Deneb Vega
Scheat Albireo
Gamma Delphini
Altair
Fomalhaut
Epsilon Sagittarii
Figure 3: The southern sky at 9PM on October 1
5 Deneb
Epsilon Lyrae Albireo Vega Altair
Arcturus
Figure 4: The western sky at 9PM on October 1
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