Meade Autostar II guided Tour Text

tarix	27.06.2016
ölçüsü	126.5 Kb.

Meade Autostar II Guided Tour Text

Version: 1.00

Date: 14/12/2004

Compiled By: Michael “Stretch” Ross, Invercargill, New Zealand

Source: http://www.meade.com/support/autotours.html

Life Story of a Star Tour 2

A Star's Life 2

Stellar Nursery 2

Kindergarten 2

Middle Age 2

Retirement 3

End of the Line 3

Out With A Bang 3

The Ultimate End 3

Star Groups 4

One Star 4

Double Star 4

Multiple Stars 5

Open Cluster 5

Globular Clusters 6

Galaxy 6

How Far is Far? — Distances in Space 7

Step 1 - The Moon 7

Step 2 - A Planet 7

Step 3 - A Star 7

Step 4 - Clusters Globular 7

Step 5 - Galaxy 8

Step 6 - Quasar 9

Tonight's Best 10

The Moon 10

Best Planets 10

Possible Events 10

Deep Sky: Objects 10

Bright and interesting Stars 11

Stars with Planets 11

Quasars 11

Clark's Messier Marathon Tour 13

Life Story of a Star Tour

Written by Melanie Melton for Meade Instruments, Corp.

A Star's Life

Stars, like everything else in the universe are born, live out their lives and die. Stars have extremely long lifetimes, making it impossible for a human to observe an entire stellar life cycle. But, you can look around the sky and see examples of young stars, middle age stars and old stars, all in one night. Stars are born within a huge cloud of gas and dust. This giant cloud is called a diffuse nebula. A diffuse nebula is illuminated by the newly formed stars. The stars heat up the gas and cause it to glow.

Stellar Nursery

The Tarantula
The Rosette Nebula
The Great Orion Nebula
The Trifid Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula
The Eagle Nebula
The Swan Nebula

Kindergarten

As more and more stars form within a diffuse nebula, there is less and less gas and dust. Finally, there isn't enough material left to form any more stars. Instead of a cloud of gas and dust, there is a loose grouping of newly formed stars. This young group of stars is called a galactic or open cluster. In a way, it's a stellar version of kindergarten. The stars within an open cluster may drift apart over time.

M34
The Pleiades
M36
M41
NGC 2516
The Praesepe
Caldwell 102
Caldwell 91
The Jewel Box
Caldwell 88
M7
M52

Middle Age

Just about every star in the sky that you can see without the aid of a telescope is a middle aged star. Stars spend millions, billions, or even trillions of years at this stage, contently burning their fuel, shining brightly in the sky.

Alpheratz
Achernar
Capella
Canopus
Sirius
Regulus
Acrux
Arcturus
Altair
Markab

Retirement

As a star begins to run out of fuel, its outer layers swell to huge sizes. As it swells, the star's surface cools off, giving it a red glow. A star like our Sun will become a red giant. A much larger star swells to become a red supergiant.

Aldebaran is a red giant star
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star
Antares is a red supergiant star
Rasalgethi is a red giant star

End of the Line

When a star like our Sun uses up most of the fuel in its core, it shrugs off its outer layer and begins to shrink. The outer layer moves away, forming a sphere of material around the collapsing star and giving it a hazy round appearance in the sky. These objects are called planetary nebula, because their appearance reminded the first observers of the distant planets in our solar system. In reality, they have nothing to do with planets at all. They are merely the last phase of a sun-like star's life. The collapsing star in the center will shrink to about the size of Earth, then gradually cool off and fade to black.

The Eskimo Nebula
Caldwell 74
The Ring Nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula
The Saturn Nebula
The Helix Nebula
NGC 2438
The Bug Nebula

Out With A Bang

Massive stars many times larger than our Sun will end their lives in a tremendous supernova explosion, the most powerful explosion in the universe. This explosion literally rips the star apart, leaving behind a cloud of debris called a supernova remnant.

The Crab Nebula is an example of a supernova remnant.
The Veil Nebula is an example of a supernova remnant.

The Ultimate End

After a supernova explosion, there is debris left over. This debris is pulled on by its own gravity, causing it to collapse in on itself. The more debris, the stronger the gravity, and the faster the collapse. If there is enough debris left over, its gravity is so strong that nothing can stop its collapse. The debris is squeezed together until everything that was left over from the star has been squeezed into a single point. This point makes up the black hole. The gravity at this point is so strong that nothing can escape from it, not even light. A black hole represents the ultimate end for the largest stars in the galaxy.

Located in this dark patch of sky is thought to be black hole GRS 1915-105.
Located in this dark patch of sky is thought to be black hole V404 Cygni.
Located in this dark patch of sky is thought to be black hole Cygnus X-1.

You have just witnessed an example of a star's life. Just like life on Earth, everything has a beginning, a middle and end, including this tour. Hope you enjoyed it!

Star Groups

Written by Melanie Melton for Meade Instruments, Corp.

© 1999 Meade Instruments
Stars, stars, and more stars! This tour begins by observing one star, then two, then a small group of stars and so on until you are looking at the largest grouping of stars possible

One Star

About one third of all the stars in the sky are single stars, like our Sun:

Alpheratz
Diphda
Hamal
Bellatrix
Canopus
Mirzam
Avior
Merak
Alkaid
Hadar
Arcturus
Alphekka
Deneb
Alnair
Markab

Double Star

Two thirds of all stars in the sky have a companion star. These double stars, or binary star systems have two stars that orbit around a common point. Some double stars orbit each other very quickly (once every few hours), while some orbit each other very slowly (once every few thousand years). However, because the stars are so far away from us, you will not be able to see any orbital movement through a telescope. Double stars are usually very close together. As a result, it is sometimes hard to see the smaller companion star.

Albireo is one of the best double star systems in the sky. The colors of the two stars are very distinct. The brighter of the two stars is golden in color while the companion star gives of a bluish tint. The pair are about 410 light years distant and are separated by 4400 A.U.
Mizar is a fine example of a double star system. This pair lies at a distance of 88 light years and are separated by 380 A.U. Observations indicate that it must take several thousand years for these two stars to orbit around each other.
Eta Cassiopeia is a nice double star system only 18 light years away. The two stars are approximately 68 A.U. apart and it takes 480 years for the stars to orbit around each other. See if you can observe any color differences between the stars. One is a yellowish color, while the other has a reddish tint
Mesarthim, or Gamma Aries is a nice double star system that lies 160 light years away. The two stars are approximately 385 A.U. apart
Gamma Lepus is a wide double star that is 29 light years away. The two stars are separated by a distance of 900 A.U. The brighter star is yellowish in color while the companion star appears orangish.
Iota Cancer is a nice double star that lies about 58 light years away. The brightest star is yellow, while the companion star has a bluish tint
Algeiba or Gamma Leonis is a very close double star, so it may be difficult to separate the two stars with a small telescope. This system is 90 light years away and the stars are separated by 125 A.U. The period of the orbit is anywhere between 400
to 700 years.
Cor Caroli is a nice double star system that lies 120 light years away. The separation between the stars is approximately 770 A.U.
Star Izar, or Epsilon Bootes is a nice double star that is between 200-300 light years away. The separation
between the stars is approximately 230 A.U. It has be difficult to determine the orbit of these two stars since the stars haven't moved since they were discovered.
Rasalgethi or Alpha Hercules is a nice double star system about 430 light years away. The two stars are separated by 700 A.U. and it takes about 4000 years for the two to orbit around each other. The brightest star is a red giant, while the companion is bluish/green in color.
Theta Serpens is a nice double star system that is 130 light years away. The two stars are separated by 900 A.U.
Star Dabih or Beta Capricorn is a wide double star system about 150 light years away. These two stars are approximately 9400 A.U. apart. The brightest of the two is thought to be a triple star, while the fainter star is actually another double star system.
Gamma Delphinus is a close double star system that is about 100 light years away, with the two stars separated by 300 A.U.

Multiple Stars

A few stars in the sky are actually multiple star systems, which can have anywhere from three to ten stars orbiting around a common point. Most of the time, there will be two or three brighter stars, with the rest being extremely faint or extremely close to each other.

Almaak, or Gamma Andromeda is a quadruple star system. The two bright stars you can see are each double stars. They lie approximately 260 light years away. The separation between the brighter stars is about 800 A.U. The fainter star's companion star orbits once every 61 years. The brighter star's companion orbits once every 2.67 days!
Epsilon Lyra is a double-double star. A small telescope can easily resolve the two brightest stars which are orbiting around a common point. A larger telescope will show that each of these stars are double stars themselves. So, this is a four star system which is 180 light years away. The two brighter stars revolve around each other once every 1165 years.
Beta Monoceros is an example of a triple star system. All three stars are of equal brightness and form a narrow triangle in the sky. The three stars have show little movement since they were discovered in 1781. They are about 150-200 light years away.
The Trapezium, located in the Great Orion Nebula, is a multiple star system containing 4 stars in the shape of a lopsided square. These stars are between 1600-1900 light years away.
The star system of Sigma Orion contains as many as ten stars, although through a small telescope, only two to four stars can be seen. This system is about 1400 light years away.
Iota Cassiopeia is a triple star system that is 141 light years distant. A calm sky and a 3 inch telescope is needed to resolve the three stars
The bright star, Castor is actually made up of six different stars. Two or three can be seen through a small telescope. Each of these three stars are themselves double stars. This star system is about 45 light years away.

Open Cluster

An open cluster is a group of 50-500 stars. This group of stars recently formed from a diffuse nebula. Over time, many of these stars will drift apart, becoming single, double and multiple star systems.

M34
The Pleiades
M36
M41
NGC 2516
The Praesepe
Caldwell 102
Caldwell 91
The Jewel Box
Caldwell 88
M7
M52

Globular Clusters

A globular cluster is a huge sphere of 50,000 to 100,000 stars. These clusters are found on the fringes of our galaxy, above and below its main spiral arms. They are made up of old stars. The combined gravity of thousands of stars allows the globular cluster to maintain its round shape, trapping stars forever in its sphere.

47 Tucanae
M79
NGC 2419
M68
Omega Centauri
M3
M5
M4
M13
M28
M15

Galaxy

A galaxy is the largest type of star group you can find in the sky. Galaxies come in several shapes (spiral, elliptical, irregular and peculiar) and sizes (containing anywhere from a few million stars to several billion stars, clusters, nebulae, etc.) Our solar system is located in the Milky Way, our own spiral galaxy.

Andromeda galaxy is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way
The Small Magellanic Cloud is an irregular galaxy that is the second closest galaxy to the Milky Way.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is an irregular galaxy that is one of the closest galaxies to our own Milky Way
NGC 2403 is a faint spiral galaxy that is approximately 8 million light years distant and 37,000 light years in diameter
M81 is a spiral galaxy that is 7 million light years away and approximately 36,000 light years in diameter.
M65 is a spiral galaxy that is 29 million light years away and has a diameter of 60,000 light years.
A Galaxy M49 is an elliptical galaxy that is 70 million light years away and about 50,000 light years in diameter.
The Sombrero Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that is about 30 million light years away and 82,000 light years across
The Whirlpool Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that is 35 million light years away and over 100,000 light years in diameter
M101 is a spiral galaxy that is 15 million light years away and 90,000 light years in diameter.

How Far is Far? — Distances in Space

Written by Melanie Melton for Meade Instruments, Corp.

© 1999 Meade Instruments
This tour is designed to give you an idea of the vast distances in space. It begins with objects relatively close to Earth and works its way outward, to the edge of our galaxy and beyond. To begin a visual journey to the far reaches of our universe.

Step 1 - The Moon

Even though the Moon is Earth's closest celestial neighbor, it took Apollo astronauts 3 full days of travel to get there. On average, the Moon is 238,900 miles (384,400 km) away.

Step 2 - A Planet

The planets are too far away for astronauts to travel to them (at least for right now), but we have sent unmanned spacecraft to every planet in the solar system but Pluto. Travel to the planets takes a long time, which is the biggest challenge to overcome for human planetary exploration. The unmanned Pathfinder spacecraft took 6 months to get to Mars. The Voyager 2 spacecraft took 12 years to get to Neptune.

Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

Step 3 - A Star

All the stars you can see without a telescope, including our Sun, are located in the same spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. Even though these stars are our neighbors, we can't visit them. They are too far away. Using current technology, it would take thousands of years to travel to our closest stellar neighbor, which is only 4.2 light years away.

Alpheratz represents the head of the constellation Andromeda. It is approximately 100 light years distant and 160 times more luminous than our Sun.
Achernar is hot, blue giant star that ranks as the 9th brightest star in the sky. It is approximately 125 light years distant and 650 times more luminous than our Sun.
Capella is a bright binary star system that is 45 light years distant. The two stars within this system are only 70 million miles (116 million km) apart, too close together to be seen as individual points of light with a small telescope.
Canopus is 116 light years away. It is the second brightest star in the sky, 30 times the diameter of our Sun and 1,400 times more luminous.
Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky, is also one of the closest stars to us at only 8.7 light years.
Regulus, the heart of the constellation Leo the Lion, is approximately 75 light years distant.
Acrux is a bright binary star system whose combined light makes Acrux the 14th brightest star in the sky. It is about 400 light years away.
Arcturus is the fourth brightest star in the sky. It is 25 times the diameter of our Sun and 115 times more luminous. It is only 37 light years away.
Altair is only 16 light years from us and is the 12th brightest star in the sky.
Markab makes up the southwest corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. It is 86 light years distant.

Step 4 - Clusters Globular

Star Clusters are huge balls of stars located on the fringes of our galaxy, just above and below the spiral arms of the Milky Way. These clusters were probably formed just after the formation of the galaxy itself. On average, these clusters are several thousand light years away.

47 Tucanae is one of the best globular clusters in the sky. This glowing sphere of over 100,000 stars is 16,000 light years away and almost 210 light years in diameter.
M79 is a globular cluster approximately 50,000 light years away. This small, compact sphere of 50,000 to 100,000 stars appears as a fuzzy, star-like object in a small telescope.
NGC 2419 is one of the most distant clusters in our sky. This cluster lies at a distance of 182,000 light years, in a region otherwise devoid of clusters. In some ways it seems that it is trying to escape from the Milky Way. Through a telescope, this cluster can be seen as an extremely faint, round, fuzzy patch of light.
M68 is a globular cluster that is 46,000 light years away and 100 light years in diameter.
Omega Centauri is a globular cluster that is 17,000 light years away and 150 light years in diameter.
M3 is a globular cluster that is 35,000 light years away and over 220 light years in diameter.
M5 is a globular cluster that is about 30,000 light years away and 100 light years in diameter. Through a small telescope, look for a faint, round hazy patch.
M4 is a globular cluster located just to the west of the bright star, Antares. Estimates of its distance range from 6,200 to 10,000 light years away.
M13 is a globular cluster that is 22,000 light years away and 160 light years in diameter. Through a small telescope, look for a round, hazy patch of light. Large telescopes are able to resolve individual stars. To some observers, M13 looks like a pile of sugar crystals spilled on a black table.
M28 is a globular cluster that is 15,000 light years away and about 65 light years in diameter. M28 appears as a round, hazy patch through a small telescope.
M15 is a globular cluster that lies near the bright star Enif. M15 is approximately 39,000 light years away and 130 light years in diameter.

Step 5 - Galaxy

Everything you have viewed up to this point in the tour has been within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Outside the boundaries of the Milky Way, it is necessary to travel incredible distances before reaching the next galaxy - the Large Magellanic Cloud at 169,000 light years. At this distance, light leaving the Large Magellanic Cloud takes 169,000 years to reach Earth, and this is the CLOSEST galaxy!

The Andromeda galaxy is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. It is 2.2 million light years away, 180,000 light years in diameter, and contains over 300 billion stars.
The Small Magellanic Cloud is 190,000 light years away from us. This irregular galaxy is the second closest galaxy to the Milky Way. The Small Cloud has a diameter of 16,000 light years.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is an irregular galaxy that is 169,000 light years away, making it one of the closest galaxies to our own Milky Way.
NGC 2403 is a faint spiral galaxy that is approximately 8 million light years distant and 37,000 light years in diameter. Through a small telescope, use averted vision to detect a faint oval-shaped cloud.
M81 is a spiral galaxy that is 7 million light years away and approximately 36,000 light years in diameter. The orientation of this galaxy in the sky allows us to see almost all of its spiral arms and large central bulge.
M65 is a spiral galaxy that is 29 million light years away and has a diameter of 60,000 light years. Through a telescope, it appears as a faint elongated patch of light.
M49 is an elliptical galaxy that is 70 million light years away and about 50,000 light years in diameter. Through a small telescope, M49 resembles a globular cluster, with a round, hazy appearance.
The Sombrero Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that is about 30 million light years away and 82,000 light years across. Through a small telescope, look for a faint, elongated patch of light with a brighter central region.
The Whirlpool Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that is 35 million light years away and over 100,000 light years in diameter.
M101 is a spiral galaxy that is 15 million light years away and 90,000 light years in diameter. Through a small telescope, the human eye can only detect a very small, faint patch of light under the best observing conditions.

Step 6 - Quasar

Quasar is the name given to mysterious quasi-stellar objects, the most distant objects in the universe. Astronomers believe quasars are galaxies in the earliest stages of formation and appear to be on the very border of the universe, at over 1 billion light years away. Quasars are EXTREMELY faint and difficult to see.

PJL 909 is a quasar that is 1.5 billion light years from Earth. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is visible only to the largest telescopes on Earth.
PG 0052+251 is a quasar that is 1.5 billion light years away and lies in the center of a spiral galaxy. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is all but invisible except to the largest telescopes on Earth.
PG 1012+008 is a quasar that is 1.6 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, it is visible only through the largest telescopes.
PKS 0405-12 is a quasar that is over 1 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is only visible through the largest telescopes.
PKS 0537-441 is a quasar that is over 1 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is only visible through the largest telescopes.
PG 1011-040 is a quasar that is over 1 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is only visible through the largest telescopes.
PG1216+069 is a quasar that is over 1 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is only visible through the largest telescopes.
PG1435-067 is a quasar is over 1 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is only visible through the largest telescopes.
PG2112+059 is a quasar that is over 1 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is only visible through the largest telescopes.
PG2209+184 is a quasar that is over 1 billion light years away. Because of its tremendous distance, this quasar is only visible through the largest telescopes.

From the Moon to a distant quasar, your eyes have traveled over a billion light years through out our universe. It is indeed a vast world we live in.

Tonight's Best

The Moon

Best Planets

Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn

Possible Events

Meteor Showers
Lunar Eclipses

Deep Sky: Objects

Caldwell 106
Messier 32
Messier 31
Deep Sky: Small Mag. Cloud
Caldwell 14
Messier 34
Messier 45
Caldwell 41
Deep Sky: Large Mag. Cloud
Messier 79
Messier 38
Messier 42
Messier 36
Messier 37
Messier 35
SAO 234480
Messier 41
Messier 44
Caldwell 53
Caldwell 92
NGC 3377
Caldwell 91
NGC 4261
Messier 68
Constellation Coma Berenices
Caldwell 99
Caldwell 94
Caldwell 77
Caldwell 80
Messier 51
Messier 04
Messier 13
Messier 92
Messier 06
Messier 07
Messier 08
Messier 22
Messier 11
Messier 57
Caldwell 93
Deep Sky: Cygnus X-1
Messier 27
Messier 15
Messier 02
Caldwell 63
Messier 52

Stars with Planets

The following stars have been determined to have planets orbiting them. These are the first stars for which we have evidence that solar systems like our own are not unique.

SAO 100582
SAO 100706
SAO 234134
SAO 252838
SAO 31899
SAO 37362
SAO 43557
SAO 65024
SAO 80478
SAO 90896

Quasars

The following objects are QUASARS. This is short for 'Quasi stellar objects.' These are perhaps the most distant objects from Earth visible with a telescope.

Deep Sky: PG1011-040
Deep Sky: PG1012+008
Deep Sky: PG1216+069
Deep Sky: PG1435-067
Deep Sky: PG2112+059
Deep Sky: PHL909
Deep Sky: PKS0537-441
Deep Sky: V404 Cygni

Clark's Messier Marathon Tour

Messier Number sorted by RA and DEC

Messier 110
Messier 032
Messier 031
Messier 103
Messier 033
Messier 074
Messier 076
Messier 034
Messier 077
Messier 045
Messier 079
Messier 038
Messier 001
Messier 042
Messier 043
Messier 036
Messier 078
Messier 037
Messier 035
Messier 041
Messier 050
Messier 047
Messier 046
Messier 093
Messier 048
Messier 044
Messier 067
Messier 081
Messier 082
Messier 095
Messier 096
Messier 105
Messier 108
Messier 097
Messier 065
Messier 066
Messier 109
Messier 098
Messier 099
Messier 106
Messier 061
Messier 040
Messier 100
Messier 084
Messier 085
Messier 086
Messier 049
Messier 087
Messier 088
Messier 091
Messier 089
Messier 090
Messier 058
Messier 068
Messier 104
Messier 059
Messier 060
Messier 094
Messier 064
Messier 053
Messier 063
Messier 051
Messier 083
Messier 003
Messier 101
Messier 102
Messier 005
Messier 080
Messier 004
Messier 107
Messier 013
Messier 012
Messier 010
Messier 062
Messier 019
Messier 092
Messier 009
Messier 014
Messier 006
Messier 007
Messier 023
Messier 020
Messier 008
Messier 021
Messier 024
Messier 016
Messier 018
Messier 017
Messier 028
Messier 069
Messier 025
Messier 022
Messier 070
Messier 026
Messier 011
Messier 057
Messier 054
Messier 056
Messier 055
Messier 071
Messier 027
Messier 075
Messier 029
Messier 072
Messier 073
Messier 015
Messier 039
Messier 002
Messier 030
Messier 052