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Your backyard is the best place to learn the basics of stargazing, and a telescope is required.
Do you know how they say “the best camera is the one you have with you”? The same goes for stargazing. Sure, you can long for trips to the best stargazing destinations in the world. They have zero light pollution, but you still have to plan a trip to coincide with the New Moon, Y get lucky with the weather.
Easier to access when a clear sky appears, your backyard or even the sidewalk outside where you live are the best places to look at the stars and learn how to move through the night sky.
This is why and how to get a basic understanding of what is happening above you.
Does my backyard have too much light pollution?
No. Can you see some bright stars? Yes, you can, so you’re good to go. Light pollution is a big problem, but don’t let it put you off even to start looking at the stars.
Here are some things to remember about light pollution:
- It has no effect on the visibility of the planets and the Moon (although there is no Moon this weekend, which will make your backyard darker than ever).
- Everyone can see the brightest stars. For beginners who are a bit dreading a sky full of a confusing number of stars, that’s really a good thing – it keeps things relatively simple.
- From your backyard you can learn a few constellations, orient yourself, and perfectly start navigating the night sky without worrying about light pollution.
Sure, if you live in a town or city, no one will ask if they can do serious academic astronomical observations from your backyard, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go stargazing. If you get attached to stargazing, then yes, you will learn to really hate light pollution, but that will come later.
For now, just go look at the stars.
Here’s how to stargaze in your backyard this weekend:
1. Spend 30 minutes outdoors about 2 hours after sunset.
Find out when the sunset is. Make a plan to go outside for 30 minutes, starting two hours later, when it’s really dark. Hopefully the sky will be clear (if not, go out later, or at the same time the next night). Get cozy. Turn off the lights in your home if light spills through the windows.
Now put your phone away. Yes, I know it is difficult, but the white light will blind you to the stars. If you absolutely must look at it, lower the brightness to a minimum. If you have a stargazing app on your phone, set it to “night mode” which will cause the screen to turn red (red light is much less harmful to night vision than white light).
How to find Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
2. Easily find 3 planets: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
You are lucky because there are not always bright planets in the night sky. These “wandering stars” change position, but the time they spend in our night sky depends on how long it takes for them to orbit the Sun.
Look around the sky. Can you see two really bright “stars”? There is one high up in the south, Jupiter, and one low on the eastern horizon. That is Mars. Look again: Mars looks red. Squint and you will more easily appreciate its redness. Look slightly to the left of Jupiter and you will see Saturn, which is about 10 times dimmer. You can’t see it, but Pluto is between the two planets.
3. How to find yourself
You have not only seen three planets in the Solar System, but you have also found the east and the south. Look at Mars and turn 180º. You are now facing west where the sun set a few hours ago. Face Jupiter and do the same. That is the north. You have your cardinal points.
4. How to see the Solar System
Draw an imaginary line from where Mars rose in the east, thought where it is now, to Jupiter in the south, then continue west and down to the horizon. That big curve is the middle of the Solar System, which is flat. You can tell because it’s the same path the Sun takes across the sky, and it’s called ecliptic. You will only see planets on that line you just drew, and never ever in the northern sky.
5. Watch the stars rise and fall
Mars rises in the east. All the planets and stars rise in the east. The Moon rises in the east. That’s because the Earth rotates from west to east, counterclockwise, so the stars gradually reveal themselves.
You are on the night side of the Earth, so you are looking out of the Solar System. That is why you can see Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the “outer” planets. As the night progresses, the stars, and planets, will rise higher above the eastern horizon, while the western stars will sink to the western horizon. That is why people are confused with the stars; they are constantly moving but, of course, in reality they are not; it is we on Earth who are spinning.
Now is the time to find three easy constellations and unofficial shapes, also called asterisms—That everyone in the Northern Hemisphere can see on an October night, with some tips on how to find them:
How to find the “Summer Triangle” in October.
6. How to find the summer triangle
Face Jupiter and look above him and you will see a bright star named Altair (see table above). It is the lower point of a triangle that dominates the sky directly above you. Now find the bright stars Vega and Deneb in the other corners.
The Summer Triangle is the cornerstone of the summer and fall night sky. Now it is waning; The next time you go out two hours after sunset, you will be noticeably further west.
7. How to find Cassiopeia
Here is another famous constellation that you can find almost every night of the year. Over the northeast is the unmistakable “W” shape on its side (see chart below). To check that you are in the right place, look for the upper “V” shape and think of it as an arrowhead: is it pointing in the general direction of Mars? Should I do it. Cassiopeia is almost always in the night sky because it appears to revolve around the North Pole star.
How to find Cassiopeia and the Great Plaza of Pegasus.
8. How to find the Great Plaza de Pegaso
Look up at Mars and look up and you will see four stars of equal brightness that form a fairly geometrically precise diamond shape (see chart above). The tallest “top” star is Scheat, which is flanked by Alperatz (bottom, left) and Markab (bottom, right), with Algenib at the bottom, closer to Mars and the horizon. How many stars can you see inside the square / diamond? If you hit five, not counting the corner stars, your backyard is super dark! (It probably won’t).
Stargazing: what did you see?
Most of the stars you can see are not stars like our Sun. The reason the bright stars you can see are so bright is because they are:
- Giant, young and hot, very bright blue stars.
- They are mostly relatively close to us, between 10 and 50 light-years away.
That’s too far to travel, but close enough to call our neighbors. The night sky is where we all live, together as one: welcome home!
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
