With the arrival of spring, these days when we have to resist the attraction of nature and the sun will surely end, and we will experience the joy of regaining our lives that we postponed after the #stayathome process. On warm and bright summer nights, we will meet the magical world of the sky again on the coasts and in the plateaus. In fact, different beautiful motifs are drawn on the sky cover not only in summer but in every season. Especially if you are in a quiet place away from the city, the sky suddenly draws you into its magical world. However, when the hustle and bustle of daily life is added to the concrete blocks, light and air pollution of big cities, unfortunately, very few of us can realize this beauty. You may already know the sky, or you may say that it does not interest you. Whatever your opinion, take a look at this article. As a member of the Northern Hemisphere, it is not a bad thing to be able to easily find the Polar Star or to learn the truth about celestial objects that you misrecognized.
Astronomers (astronomers) are divided into two groups: amateur and professional. You do not need to be an astronomy expert or have large telescopes to experiment for free in the world's largest laboratory. Anyone who looks up at the sky can be considered an amateur astronomer. Especially if you have a simple pair of binoculars, it is easy to get lost in the vast sky. Moreover, today, extremely effective smartphone applications (Astronomy Apps) have been developed to recognize stars, planets and constellations. With the help of augmented reality, you can read the detailed information of the celestial objects along with their names in the direction you hold your phone, and get informed about what will happen in the sky. You can even go on a "time travel" by rewinding the calendar in the application, for example, to see what the sky was like when you were born.
Now let's get to know the main heroes of the dance that goes on in the sky every night.
constellations
In the past, astronomers played a "connect the dots" game in the sky and divided the sky into 88 parts in order to easily address the sky. Each piece usually corresponds to a constellation whose name is of mythological origin. The four seasons have their own constellations, and their positions relative to each other are always the same. Astronomers use constellations to easily locate celestial objects. You can easily observe the constellations with the help of a simple star atlas or smartphone applications. How Does? Star maps consist of large and small points placed within a large circle, and these are connected to each other with imaginary lines to form constellations. Each dot corresponds to a star and its brightness in the sky is directly proportional to its size on the map. The circle surrounding the map is our horizon line, and the points close to the circle show stars close to the horizon. The middle of the map corresponds to the stars near the top. First, let's see the Ursa Major constellation and how we reach the pole star using it. There are 3 stars on 4 handles in the bowl part of the Ursa Major, which resembles a ladle. The star in the middle of the handle is Mizar. Just below Mizar is its much fainter counterpart, Alkor. Mizar and Alkor are one of the most well-known double stars, and if you can see Alkor along with Mizar, it means your eyes are sharp. When we connect the two stars at the end of the bowl with an imaginary line and extend it approximately 5 units towards the north, we reach a faint and lonely star. This is the “Polaris” that many of us hope to see brighter. Since the Pole Star passes through the Earth's axis of rotation, all the stars appear to revolve around it during the night.
Moon and Planets
Our only satellite, the Earth's confidant, the Moon is the first favorite of those who begin astronomy. Since it is the closest celestial object to us, we can easily see craters, dark sea areas and exposed mountains with the help of simple binoculars. The best time to observe the Moon is when it is close to the crescent. Because during these phases, the shadowed areas on the Moon's surface provide a three-dimensional image. Moreover, as the brighter phases of the Moon make it impractical to observe in the dark, astronomers prefer moonless nights. If you want a dark sky while observing, you can go out to observe on a night when there is no Moon, or you can adjust your observation time by remembering that the Moon rises 50 minutes later each day than the previous night.
The planets that most of us think of as stars are also colorful members of the dance that continues throughout the night. As their name suggests, they constantly change places in the sky. Five planets that can be seen with the naked eye as shining stars without blinking; They are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Among these five planets, Mercury is the most difficult planet to observe with the naked eye. Since it is the closest planet to the Sun, it moves very slightly away from it and is constantly in twilight.
The brightest celestial body in the sky when visible after the Sun and Moon is the planet Venus. Since it is the second closest planet to the Sun, its orbit is closer to the Sun than Earth's. For this reason, it can only be observed from Earth until 3 hours before Sunrise or 3 hours after Sunset. The planet Venus, also known as the Evening Star or Morning Star, is currently the brightest celestial object after the Moon on the western horizon after sunset. With the summer season, it will begin to appear on the eastern horizon close to sunrise and will continue to shine brightly throughout the rest of 2020, being mistaken for a morning star.
Jupiter, known as the king of the planets, comes after Venus in terms of brightness because it is much further away from us. The orange planet Mars can be easily distinguished among the planets visible to the naked eye due to its color.
The two planets where you can get the most pleasure from using an optical device are Jupiter and Saturn. The planet Jupiter is the third brightest celestial body at night after the Moon and Venus. With the help of simple binoculars, you can see Jupiter's four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, as bright spots. To observe the light and dark tone bands formed by Jupiter's clouds, we need an optical device a little more powerful than a simple binocular. However, looking at Saturn with a medium-sized telescope is a completely different matter. Because you can't get enough of watching her waltz with her ring for hours.
Things to Consider When Buying a Telescope
By the way, let's talk briefly about telescopes. Telescopes have two purposes of use. The first is to magnify celestial objects and the second is to collect more light. In this way, it is possible to see even faint objects that we cannot see with the naked eye. When you think of the power of a telescope, only the magnifying power may come to your mind. However, the power of a telescope is determined by both its magnification feature and its light collection capacity. The factor that determines the light gathering capacity is the diameter of the telescope. You cannot enlarge the diameter of the telescope you purchased, but you can purchase small eyepieces with different focal lengths as accessories to obtain different magnifications. Telescopes that magnify better and collect more light at the same time are considered powerful telescopes and their prices increase accordingly.
Another factor that affects the price is the quality of the lenses and mirrors used in the telescope. Specially coated lenses and mirrors provide very high quality images. Some telescopes have the ability to automatically find and track celestial objects. If you are interested in sky photography, a telescope with a tracking mechanism will make your job much easier. As a result, in order to decide which telescope you should buy, contacting the authorized dealers of the brands that are famous in this field in our country will prevent you from buying a telescope that has no optical value.
and Milky Way
A dazzling light belt of dark nights. The ancients believed that this belt held the entire celestial sphere in the air. The Milky Way is a river in the sky made up of billions of stars, including the Sun. We recommend that you examine this star cloud, which extends from the northeastern horizon to the southwestern horizon on summer nights, with binoculars. Your admiration for the sky will increase when you see star clusters containing millions of stars.
Some Important Celestial Events and Dates of 2022
March 16: Venus and Mars are in close proximity. You can observe the two planets side by side with the naked eye on the eastern horizon near sunrise.
March 28: The Moon, Venus, Mars and Saturn will be close to each other on the eastern horizon at sunrise.
April 12: Jupiter and Neptune are very close. Those observing with a telescope can catch Neptune in the same circle as Jupiter during this approach. On April 28, Neptune will be close to Venus this time.
April 21-22: Lyrid Meteor Shower
April 27: At sunrise, the Moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter appear close to each other in the east.
May 1: Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will be very close at sunrise.
May 4-5: Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower.
May 16: Total Lunar Eclipse. The penumbra lunar eclipse will begin at 04:32. The start time of the partial lunar eclipse is 05:27. However, since the Moon will set at 05:53, the total lunar eclipse will not be able to be watched from our country.
May 29: Mars and Jupiter will appear very close to each other on the eastern horizon at sunrise.
So far, we have tried to tell you about the beauties of the sky, but there are many more heroes such as star clusters, nebulae, galaxies (galaxies) that you should see. They are waiting for you every night to meet you.
Wishing you a cloudless and starry night.
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