Poll Question

[ultralightbackpacker@ihatespamyahoo.com]

If you had mag 6.5+ skies tonight. How many stars could you name
without a chart, strictly from memory?

[Sam Wormley]

"ultralightbackpacker@ihatespamyahoo.com" wrote:

40-50

[By-Tor]

> How many stars could you name

Two: Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali

[james]

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 17:37:04 GMT,
"ultralightbackpacker@ihatespamyahoo.com"
<ultralightbackpacker@ihatespamyahoo.com> wrote:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Depending on the time of the year.

if i see a lot of constellations that i am familiar with 30 or so.
otherwise i maight only get 20.

james

[Brian Tung]

ultralightbackpacker wrote:

Lots: Joe, Fred, Mary, Tom, Liz, Harold, etc.

Oh, the usual conventional names. Well, if you mean the proper names,
I doubt that dark skies matter. With the exception of the deeply
variable Mira-types, the stars with proper names all are bright enough
to see under indifferent skies. (Maybe not inner urban skies, though.)

My guess is that I could pick off perhaps 50 to 100 proper names, given
enough time. If you let me use Bayer letters and Flamsteed numbers,
probably several times that many. But I've got a fairly deep interest
in star names, so I'm probably not typical.

Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu>
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

[David Knisely]

ultralightbackpacker posted:


Oh, probably somewhere between 25 and 30. It depends a little on the time of
year, although winter seems to have more the the brighter ones visible. Clear
skies to you.

--
David W. Knisely KA0CZC@navix.net
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

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[Starlord]

memory? what's that" What's the question?


--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

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[halfro]

less than I could under a 4.5 sky -- I did this for a night in New Hampshire
and I was so lost -- it was not funny -- I cannot find my way under such
conditions.
"Brian Tung" <brian@isi.edu> wrote in message
news:bu6neh$fdr$1@zot.isi.edu...

[Shawn Grant]

About 200

[Brian Tung]

halfro wrote:

Oh, well, if it comes to just finding your way, I suspect most amateur
astronomers *know* many more stars than they can name. I know where
many stars are in, say, Aquila, but I can only name three of them by
proper name.

I think that practicing star-hopping definitely gets you familiar faster
with patterns in the sky.

Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu>
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt