Burgers Fries and Astronomy
April 4th 2011 04:00
A view of the constellation of Orion as seen from the Southern Hemisphere
You may well ask what do burgers and fries have to do with astronomy, please read on as I try to make my point.
I love to just go out at night and just take part in good old fashioned star gazing. Forget for the moment about the technical aspects of astronomy and just enjoy the view.
With the lure of computers, video games, social media and television it is easy to just sit and veg out.
But that activity can get a little passé, while it is great to be able to take your shoes off and relax we risk losing our ability to see what is out there in the sky.
The Orion constellation as seen from the Northern hemisphere
Our ancient ancestors were masters of the night sky they could use the night to navigate, plant crops plan the seasons.
My current location is sub tropical Queensland Australia it can get very hot and humid in the summer months so going out at night treading on snakes is not a good thing.
Still summer or winter no matter what the season if you get the chance to see a few stars spot a constellation or two smell the fresh air then you may be pleasantly surprised.
Spring is a good time to start for observers in the Northern Hemisphere the constellation of Orion is setting lower in the night just after sunset , sky look toward the South west just above the horizon.
Look for the 3 brightest stars Sirius. Rigel and Betelgeuse, Sirius the dog star will most likely be the brightest depending on the weather.
If you make a mock triangle in the sky with the star Sirius to your left Rigel to your right and Betelgeuse at the apex of the triangle the constellation of Orion with be roughly in the middle of the” imaginary” triangle.
I think it is time we got off our collective back sides and smell the roses ( in the out doors)Why not try it tonight let me know if you spotted it.
Comment by S.L.
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Astroearth
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If we were suddenly catapulted back to early last century and not have any access to our tech gear we would all be having withdrawals.