OBJECTIVE: I will use Stellarium to create an observing plan for viewing a DSO (Deep Sky Object) on the day of my birth.

WORDS FOR TODAY:

• Right Ascension (Longitude in space)
• Declination (Longitude in space)
• Sidereal Time (time based on Earth's actual rotation. 1 day = 23 h 56 min 4.0905 s)
• meridian (The line dividing the night sky into Northern & Southern Hemispheres)
• Transit (time when an object moves across the meridian)

WORK O' THE DAY: 

Stellarium

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We'll continue the work we started yesterday:

Part I: Use Stellarium to find an object high in the sky on the night of the day you were born.

Part II: Give your observing plan to one of your team mates and see if they can find that object and that it 'works' for an observation

Part III: Create an observing plan for a remote place in the United States, far away from city lights) for one night this weekend:

1. Go to our GHHS Observation Program website
2. Open the Viewing Calendar
3. On the lower left there is a green section labeled: "Other Charts"
4. Find "ALL"
5. Click on "Map"
6. At the top of the map is a slider bar with a blue ball at the left edge. Slide the blue ball to the right -- a "light map" of the US is displayed
7. Find a spot with very low background light that does have a "Clear Skies Map" present there
8. Use that map to plan your observation-- NOTE: You'll also need to confirm a local weather report