Star Gazing

[Kate]

I was just down the south coast of Sydney enjoying the peace and quiet with a friend of mine... after 2 bottles of red sitting outside at about 1am we got to star gazing...

Questions were raised that we got in to some arguements about that I am hoping some one will humor me and be able to answer...

1. Venus and Mars are both able to be seen with the naked eye? (Remembering we are in the middle of the bush with no lights around) I said yes, she disagreed....

2. Are there any stars within our solar system? Another way to ask the question is... Are the planets M,V,E,M,J,S,U,N,P, the closest THINGS to earth or are there stars in the mix as well.? Neither of us had any clue to this...

3. We also noticed a black mass right near the southern cross, what is this?

That is all I can remember for now, it turned out to be a pretty long night/morning!!

Thanks muchly for a response in advance!
Kate

[Vermin]

1) Yes, even in light polluted cities. You can see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn with the naked eye at certain times of year. You even can see some nearby galaxies with the naked eye (from a dark site), Andromeda, the Large Magelenic Cloud and the Small Magelenic Cloud for example.

2) Only one, named Sol (The Sun) the next nearest is about 4 light years away (Proxima Century).

3) Well spotted! It's the "Coal Sack", a big mass of inter stellar dust obscuring the background stars of our galaxy the Milky Way. There's actually quite a bit of this visible along the Milky Way's plane, from a really dark site with excellent transparency (no haze) and well dark adapted eyes this can look like a huge split in the sky!

[gaa_ian]

Hi Kate & Welcome
:welcome:
1. Yes both are visable but at different times
2. Planets are the closest , nearest star is Aprox 4.2 light years, fartherest Planet about 3 billion km
3. Black mass is the "Coal sack" nebula
an area of gas & dust blocking out the stars that are behind it.

Wath out ...you will get hooked
Next thing you know you will be ordering a big telescope :P

[Kate]

Thanks for the reply... I am pretty sure we spotted both planets.

Makes me feel very small!!

Its a good website here I might just hang around and learn a bit more!!

[Kate]

Could we have seen both planets only just this sunday night/monday morning? Or am I telling my friend porky-pies!!! She believed me anyway and dosnt need to know I was here getting my facts straight!!

[Vermin]

Venus is very close to the just set Sun at the moment. Perhaps you saw Jupiter if it was higher up?

Mars rises in the east about 1:30 am at the moment. The star Antares (anti-mars) is very orangish, bright and directly overhead at midnight too, easy to confuse the two (not saying you did btw).

Check the beginners forum for free planetarium software or try this site http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/ to see a labelled sky map on the night in question.

[Starkler]

Keep an eye out for Jupiter in the evenings.

If you look to the north you cant miss it as its by far the brightest thing in the sky. Another tip in identifying planets, stars 'twinkle', planets do not .

[Kate]

Ok, Ok, I am definately going to do some more research...

I obviously have no idea!!!

We were definately looking at Jupiter then it was by far the brightest... over to the east then there was something else that was definately pink in comparison.

Anyway I am checking out that website now to see if I can decipher any more of what we were looking at...at least now I know that I can start at Jupiter and work my way across.

Thanks again for the responses and for putting up with my ignorance!!

[iceman]

Hi kate!

:welcome: to the forums! How did you hear about us?

What a great way to spend the evening..

Next time, try a pair of binoculars if you've got some lying around at home.. you'll be amazed at how much more you can see. Point them at Jupiter (the brightest thing in the sky after the sun sets) and you'll see up to 4 of it's largest moons (the galilean moons) as well as the disc shape of Jupiter.

Scan your binoculars over the southern cross area and through the milky way and you'll see some lovely bright star clusters.. A real treat when just relaxing with friends.

Astronomy and learning the night sky is a wonderful pursuit and I hope your interest grows! Whenever you decide you need a telescope, you know where to come for advice! :D

[ving]

hi kate, welcome to the site :)
er... all your questions have been answered so I wont go repeating the answers.

congrats on finding jupiter and the coal sack tho :)