AST 2002 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Vise, Lunar Eclipse, Angular Distance
Document Summary
On clear, moonless nights more than 2,000 stars may be visible to your naked eye. We can recognize patterns of stars in the sky. Constellations- a region of the sky with well-defined borders; the familiar patterns of stars merely help us locate these constellations. There are 88 official constellations, named in 1928 by members of the international. Every point in the sky belongs to a constellation. Stars in a particular constellation appear to be close but in reality may be very far from one another. We lack depth perception when looking into space because of how far away the stars are. Celestial sphere- an imaginary sphere of which the observer is the center and on which all celestial objects are considered to lie. The celestial sphere is useful because it allows us to map the sky as seen from earth. North celestial pole- the point directly over earth"s north pole. South celestial pole- the point directly over earth"s south pole.
