Taking Pictures of Constellations

One of your jobs tonight is to take pictures of a constellation. We'll provide the camera and film, but you control the rest. Here's what you must do:

Decide which constellation you want to photograph. Obviously, it must be visible tonight...
Look up the constellation in your Edmund Sky Guide or on your planisphere. Figure out where in the sky it will be tonight (North? East? Low on the horizon?)
Go outside and find the constellation.
Draw a picture of the constellation. Show all the stars you can see with your naked eye. Indicate the horizon and local directions.
Play connect-the-dots with your drawing to form a figure which helps you to recognize the pattern of stars. It doesn't have to look like its namesake.
Write down a small set of instructions to help other people find your constellation. Imagine that you are standing outside on a dark night next to your uncle (or aunt), and describe what you'd say to him (her).

We will set up a camera on a tripod on the concrete pad. When your group's turn arrives, you will go to the camera, point it your constellation, and take 3 pictures. You decide how long each should be, but keep in mind the following general rules:

Exposures shorter than 3 seconds will show very few, if any, stars.
Exposures longer than about 30 seconds will begin to show trails.
Exposures longer than about 60 seconds will detect so much stray light from reflected streetlights that the stars will be overwhelmed.

You will have a chance to analyze your photographs later this quarter.

Last modified Sep 2, 1999 by MWR