Stargazing 2024-10-30: Lyra w/ Binocs (publ. 2024-10-31)

We had clear skies last evening, so around 7:30pm AKDT the boys and I went outside for some playtime and stargazing. Eventually I got out the 12x60 Skymaster binoculars and revisited Lyra. Here is the sketch, after being redone in ink:

Sketch for Lyra, with angular distance estimates (incorrect date on sketch)

I noticed after uploading the sketch, that I wrote the incorrect date on it. It should read Oct 30 2024. The time should also read "AKDT".

My goal was to get another magnitude or two worth of stars, beyond what I could see with the naked eye, but still restrict myself to stars that likely would be shown on my Cambridge charts. That is, I was able to see a lot more stars, dimmer stars, that what I recorded in my sketch.

It was interesting, of course, to be able to split the δ and ε double stars, which appear as one star each, to the naked eye. All the stars shown on my sketch were also on the Cambridge chart, though some of the stars near γ did not have identification letters or numbers.

In my binocs I can get more accurate angular distance estimates, since I know that these binocs are 5 deg FoV, making it easy to measure 5 deg or 2.5 deg, and to guess at a few other angles. Small angles like 0.5 deg are difficult. I wish my binoculars had some kind of glowing reticles to aid with that. Other amateur astronomers I have chatted with hate the idea of reticles obscuring their view, but I wouldn't mind that if it gave me some practical, objective way to measure the angles.

I tried to use the AL's Ursa Minor method to estimate transparency. I was able to clearly see Polaris as well as γ and β. If I stared a little, I could also see another star which I believe was ζ. This leaves me a little uncertain as ζ UMi is supposed to mean Magnitude 5 skies, but I was unable to see δ and ε which are required for Magnitude 4 skies.

Something that confuses me about this system is that, in Stellarium at least, ζ UMi is magnitude 4.25 (4.39) while ε is 4.20 (4.34) and δ is 4.35 (4.49) so it strange that these three stars are used to distinquish beteen magnitude 4 and magnitude 5 stars. Also, β and γ are an order of magnitude different, so it doesn't make sense to me why they both indicate magnitude 3 skies.

AL Seeing and Transparency Guide

Toward the end of the evening, Silas and I chatted some about why God created the stars. We went over again the various Biblical reasons, but I tried to emphasize how the stars help us to see how big God is, and how great is his power.

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