Hi all! Im desperate for help!!

[bdos]

Hi everyone.

Im not sure if ive posted this in the right section but im a real beginner so here it is!

I was really hoping someone could help me with a little ‘project’ im working on.

Quite a few years ago my brother passed away and some family friends gave our family a gift which was naming a star after my brother through the “international star registry” (disclaimer: im not sure if this international star registry is a bit of a scam?? Is it? either way – it doesn’t really affect my project)

What id like to do is have this tattooed on my arm and was hoping you guys could help me design it.



the star is part of the southern cross (Crux?) constellation. I want to get a small tattoo of the southern cross on my arm with some kind of astronomy symbols or markings which in effect, point to, or explain somehow, where my brothers star is in relation to the southern cross.

Does this make sense?? Is it possible?

Any help would be greatly appreciated even if its just pointing me in the right direction.

Cheers!!!

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Bdos,

Very nice idea by the way!

I have attached a screenshot of the constellation of Crux from a free program called Stellarium 0.9.0 and this has a very nice constellation art depicting the southern cross which may be suitable for a tattoo?

If you download the program and click on the stars around Crux's constellation, you should be able to identify which one is your brother's star and then perhaps mark it on the picture and take it in to the parlour.

Hope this is of help.

Cheers

Chris

[bdos]

excellent! thanks Screwdriverone!

One question - after finding the location of my brothers star and therefore determining where to place in relation to the southern cross - are there any special astronomy symbols or arrows or anything like that that depict direction / distance etc??

I think id like the tattoo to resemble a "map" of sorts if its at all possible?

[programmer]

Hey Chris, take another screenshot with the equatorial grid turned on and see how he likes that :)

[Screwdriverone]

Here ya go, Programmer's request to turn on the EQ grid.

What's the name of the star, if you don't mind me asking? Maybe we can pinpoint it for you.

As for symbols, most of these on the star charts are all the ones I can think of. Have a look at this PDF (http://www.skymaps.com/skymaps/tesms0804.pdf)of a free one down the bottom right of the round circle star chart for symbols we use to pinpoint certain objects.

PS. if you get a forbidden access error on the PDF link, click in the address line and then press enter and it should then work OK.

Chris

[bdos]

firstly - i really appreciate the help. thanks!!

well im still trying to get the exactly coordinates of the star. I should have those by the end of the day - just waiting on a family member to confirm! as soon as i have these ill post for you.

the name of the star with the international star registry (ie: my brothers name) is xxx - is that what youre after?

I dont mind the idea of the EQ grid but think it will look a tad messy designed as a tattoo.

i actually really like some of those strange symbol type things on the star chart. is it possible to incorporate these into the design to express the location of Crux or the star or anything? eg: the little circles with numbers etc?

again - thanks so much for the help!

[Screwdriverone]

I think the coordinates is all we need.

You may want to edit the post and remove his full name if you are worried about privacy etc.

I think you could add anything you want to the final design, most tattoo artists I think are pretty good sketch artists and if you have the basic constellation design with the art from Stellarium, they should be able to "elaborate" on the design on paper first and then take the plunge when you are happy with it.

When all is said and done, it would be great for you to post a final pic of the tattoo on IIS so we can all have a look!

Chris

[ving]

i think the coordinates superimposed over the crux would suit the purpose. and prolly look ok... but i guess you would have to see a mockup.

BOL

[bdos]

ahhh ok...

i like the idea of the coordinates superimposed over the Crux too!!

Great, well ill get my hands on the coordinates and post them up as soon as i can! Most likely sometime this afternoon.

And Screwdriver - ill certainly post the pic up for all you guys to see!!

[bdos]

ok so ive got the coordinates:

Crux RA 12h 13m 09.00s D-57 50' 19.43"

Does this sound right? Is anyone able to help me locate this?? ive tried using the Stellarium program but im really struggling to figure the thing out!!!

Thanks!!!

[Starkler]

Closest I can find is this:

Star
TYC8640-00648-1
Magnitude Tycho BT: 12.85
Magnitude Tycho VT: 11.81
Visual Magnitude: 11.72
Color Index: 0.88
Annual Proper Motion: -0.010 -0.003

J2000 RA: 12h13m03.44s DE:-57°47'07.3"
Date RA: 12h13m30.20s DE:-57°49'54.7"

[bdos]

cheers starkler,

any idea how i find where this star is on a star chart or with Stellarium or Google Earth or something like that?

[Galactic G]

I was having a play with the "Microsoft WorldWide Telescope" software. http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/

I noticed you could put RA/Dec co-ords in directly. When I did this with the co-ords you gave us it shows a star in Crux.

I've attached a close up and also the general area of the star with reference to the whole of the Crux.

[bdos]

Thanks Galactic.

When entering RA and Dec coords into the worldwide telescope what format do i use?

is it RA = 12h13m09s ??

and Dec = -57 50' 19.43" ??

[MrB]

Hi bdos,

I don't have the Tycho catalogue installed so the star doesn't show in this view, but the red 'x' marks the coordinate position you provided.

[bdos]

cheers mr B and thanks everyone who has helped me find where this star is located!!!

now i suppose i need to think up a design for the tattoo...

any ideas or suggestions you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated!!

[Galactic G]

Yep, thats the format. I just cut and paste them as they were in your post.

[JethroB76]

Just as an idea, you could go with a design of Crux as in the image from Stellarium but show your star as having brightened - an addition to the constellation if you like, maybe add the coords I dunno:shrug:

[Dog Star]

Just a personal opinion - The trick with this is to create an effective tattoo, so if you go with an actual "stellar" image, ie white stars on a black background, the effect could be a bit subdued. Maybe go for a fully inked background in a light blue with the major stars inked in as 6 pointed objects as on the Australian flag. The stars could be yellow and your brother's star could be his favorite colour or the colour of his car or something. The actual co ordinates could be inked in at the bottom in fancy scroll work. Talk to the bloke with the ink gun; most of them are pretty good at coming up with a concept to suit you if you give them a bit of information.
Really looking forward to seeing an image of the tatt. It's a brilliant concept and I know you'll wear it with pride. Cheers:thumbsup:

[Ric]

Hi bdos, I have a few tatts :whistle: and the best advice I can give is to check out all the tattoist's. some are very good and some are total c**p. Make sure they have single use needles and full autoclave sterilisation.

Most of all the good ones can do anything on skin so think outside the square when it comes to designs and they don't hurt as bad as people say.:P

Cheers:)

[CoombellKid]

There are some rather avid sketchers on this site. Maybe you could post a lil
comp of sort once you have the coordinates. And get a few sketchers to
help out. If nothing it may give the tattoo-ist some inspiration in how the
final art turns out.

just a thought.

regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

Having a bit of body art myself, I totally agree with Ric. Make sure you like
the artist as it his/her art you will be wearing. There was a great Kiwi bloke
down in Newtown a few years ago. But he had a 6month waiting list.

The big tat on my upper left arm was done by the singer out of my old band,
he was an excellent artist, awesome singer but unfortunately did 10x more
drugs and alcohol than the rest of us.

regards,CS

[bdos]

nice one Jethro i like the idea.. i think this will be the general design and ill hopefully let the tattoo artist work his magic

cheers!

[bdos]

and thanks for all the advice guys.

im right on a roll with all this now so will hopefully seek out a few artists and get some ideas.

if ther are indeed any artists or sketchers out there id LOVE to see any concept ideas you may have!! cheers!