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ISU ENVI 360 - Stellarium 1 Constellation

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Stellarium I: Constellation Cassiopeia© Joseph West 2015, adapted by Brendon Mikula 2015This first Stellarium assignment is meant to give you a chance to use the software, work out any difficulties you have in installing the software, and to get you to LOOK AT STARS.I. Install Stellarium and Set Default Location1. You will need to use the Stellarium software that can be downloaded free from http://www.stellarium.org/. The installation will put a “shortcut” on your desktop.2. Start Stellarium, and choose any star/planet/the sun that you can see and click on it. In the upper left corner, you should see some information about that object. If you canread that information, your computer likes Stellarium. If it looks like some of the information is written in Klingon, your computer does not like some of the graphics defaults and you will need to exit Stellarium and restart it from your “start menu” using the (fallback mode) option. To do that, you need to begin at the start menu in the lower left of your computerstartAll ProgramsStellarium folderStellarium (fallback mode)3. So, with Stellarium running and behaving itself, your next task is to change the default location to Terre Haute, United States. You can press F6 to open the Location window or you can access the window from the menu on the left panel, top option. In this menu, you can scroll down the list of towns and cities in the world (sort of slow, there are a LOT of them) or you can type in Terre Haute in the box highlighted “New Location,” and it will find it for you. Check the box that says “Use as Default.” From now on, this is the location you will automatically start from when starting Stellarium.4. Notice that the picture you see is not really a location in Terre Haute, and you can change your surroundings in another menu, if you like, but it will not matter to us very much.II. Set Viewing Options1. If it is daytime right now, then the Sun is up, and it is up in Stellarium as well. Our atmosphere scatters light from the Sun, which makes the sky a pretty blue color (when there are no clouds), but it also makes it difficult to see the stars when the Sun is up, and makes them blurry when it is night time! So, we are going to turn off the atmosphere (how long can you hold your breath?). From the bottom panel, choose the atmosphere button (it looks like some clouds with the Sun behind them). It toggles the atmosphere off and on. Click it once, and you should now be able to see stars and planetsand such, even with the Sun up!12. For this assignment you are interested in finding a star in a constellation, so you should turn on the Constellation Lines and Labels. So, from the bottom panel, turn on theleft two options (Constellation Lines, and Constellation Labels).3. We are interested in finding a constellation that is up at night, September in Terre Haute. So, using the time control buttons, change the time to September 7, 11:00 pm. The time control buttons are in the bottom panel, far right. Note: you can stop time by choosing to go backward, but just once.III. Get the Data1. Find the constellation Cassiopeia; it should be North-East, about half-way from the horizon to the zenith (straight up). You can also use the Search option from the left panel, middle choice (looks like a magnifying glass), and just type in Cassiopeia, and Stellarium will rotate you to look right at it.2. While pointed at the constellation, zoom in on it (mouse wheel controls zooming in and out), so that you can tell which stars are actually part of that constellation, there are a total of 5 of them.2. Find your star, and write down the information provided about it.IV. Play Some1. Turn on the Planets Label, if it is not already on.2. Uranus is the only planet visible at this time of night (well, you can’t see Uranus without a telescope, but Stellarium will still mark where it is). To see Jupiter, you will need to turn off the ground (bottom menu, the button looks like two trees on a hill). If youcan’t locate them on your own, the Search Option will find them.3. Select Jupiter, and zoom in on it (mouse wheel controls zooming in and out).4. As you zoom in, Jupiter will move off of your screen. Have Stellarium “Center on the Object,” (hit the space bar, or use Bottom Panel, button with arrows pointing to thecenter).5. Zoom in far enough to see the moons of Jupiter. Notice that the moons are labeled, and their position is accurately calculated. If you have a telescope, and you look at Jupiter right now, you would see those moons in those locations. Notice, Jupiter will set in about one hour. If you wait too long to look at Jupiter, you have to send time backward far enough so that it has not set yet. If you speed up the time backwards, and you zoom in close enough, you can watch Jupiter rotate. Zoom in on Uranus.6. If it is clear tonight GO OUTSIDE AND CHECK IT OUT. Cassiopeia is easy to spot with the naked eye. Jupiter will not be visible at night2I. Constellation CassiopeiaCircle Your StarCaph, Shedir, Navi, Ruchbah, ε CasYour Name: ________________________ #_____Your Star: _____________________________Viewing Location: Long: _________ Lat: _________Viewing Time Hour: _________ Min: _________Star Magnitude: _______Star Absolute Magnitude:_______Az / Alt: __________ ___________(changes so just give to nearest minute)Spectral Type: __________Distance: __________Parallax:


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