Thread: The big dipper and the little dipper.

Look here, then read on...

http://philpot.org/Houston_north_sky.jpg

This chart was generated to represent Houston at 9pm tonight, but if the date or time is drastically off, then all that will happen is that the sky will be rotated around the north star (Polaris) in respect to the chart. All relative positions will be the same. Also, this chart has more objects plotted than will be visible to the unaided eye, but I've highlighted both the Big Dipper (in the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear) and the Little Dipper (in the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Bear).

Look north/northeast about 50 degrees up from the horizon around 9pm. Your fist held at arm's length is about 10 degrees across, so you can use that as a reference. The Big Dipper is bigger than most people expect. Once you find it, trace around it starting with the tip star of the handle. When you get to the last two stars in the bowl, mentally extend the line between the for about five times the distance between them. That imaginary line will point almost directly at Polaris, which is the star at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper.

Only a couple of the stars in the Little Dipper approach the intensity of the Big Dipper's stars, so you'll have to look closely for all of them (and have pretty dark skies as well). Don't mistake the bright, spectacular Pleiades in the constellation Taurus for the 'true' Little Dipper. They're currently setting in the Northwest / West and although they are visually a "little dipper", they're not "The" Little Dipper.

Thanks - No camping lately. I've just been busy. I follow the forums here via RSS, but I can't reply that way, unfortunately.

This coming Friday morning, once again Lord willin' and the crick don't rise, I'll be on my way to Fort Davis and the 2009 Texas Star Party. I can't wait! I want to take some more photos around the area, "off-site" of the ranch where the star party is held. I'll try to add them to my Texas PBase galleries when I get back.