Stargazing on and out of KAUST Campus

Is laborious homework driving you crazy? Are you still suffering from the mid-term exams? Do not worry, relax and spend some time on the sky. The stars will refresh you. And I hope this article can help you with stargazing.

Let us start with questions.

(1)    What kind of equipment we should have for the star hunting?

Some people may consider stargazing as equipment restricted activity. However, Stargazing does not mean you need expensive equipment, and you can have a “plain observation” by naked eyes, or eyes with glasses if you are myopic. “Plain observation” works for constellations, meteor showers, solar or moon eclipse, and even comet. In addition, it is also suitable for aurora if you are living in the high latitude.

It would be great if you have the software STELLARIUM (recommended by Desmond and Lakshmi), which can be downloaded from website free of charge. Here is the screenshot of Stellarium, which shows the names of the stars and constellations.

And detailed information (magnitude, distance, alias, motion description) can be also found when you click the star. The most useful function of the software is the simulation of stars in the celestial sphere (an imaginary sphere where all the stars reside). You can choose various view modes of the sky, e.g., a view of constellations can help you find constellations easily.

If you would like to have a specific view of the moon or planets (Jupiter, Saturn, and so on), now you need binocular or telescope. There are many types for telescope and prices vary a lot. The telescope we astronomy group have is Vixen-VC200L, with focal length of 1800mm. For more information, please contact KAUST Amateur Astronomer Association.

(2)    Where we can have the observations of stars?

For stargazing, what you need most is dark environment without light pollution. KAUST beach area is the place you can choose. Following is the photo for Orion taken on KAUST beach. In addition, BBQ, camping can go well with star observations.

I would like to mention one rural area outside KAUST, Waba Crater, where is perfect for stargazing. Milky Way can be observed easily by naked eyes and more stars in the deep sky can be seen. Here is one photo of stars around the polar star taken by Junjie. Different colors indicate different temperatures on the surface of the star.

Picture below is the portrait of the Milky Way. This photo is just taken by camera, without any aid from telescope or mount. That is to say, one can use his camera for astronomical photography by choosing proper parameters for the picture.

(3)    When to have stargazing?

Any clear night works and you can also have an astronomy calendar from the website link http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2011.html. There will be meteor showers (Leonids in November and Geminids in December), lunar eclipse (Dec. 10, can be visible throughout most of Asia, Europe, and North America) in the coming two months. Do not miss them!

That is it. Feel free to contact with Amateur Astronomer Association and let me share some pictures by telescope with camera at the end of the article. Enjoy~

The Moon

Saturn

The Sun

The eclipse of the Sun (Hangzhou, China, 200907)

The Eclipse of the Sun (Wenzhou, China, 200907)