Naked Eye Astronomy
Discovering the Cosmos with your Eyes
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and felt a sense of wonder and awe?
The universe is vast and mysterious, and for centuries, humans have been captivated by the beauty of the night sky. Even today, with all the advanced technology we have at our disposal, there is still something special about observing the night sky with just our own eyes.
People with normal vision can see a few thousand stars at any given time, and if you want a number there are roughly six to ten thousand stars that are bright enough to detect by eye alone.
However, not all stars look same, from the giant ones that light up the sky with their brilliance, to the small and faint dim ones, each star is unique in its size, temperature, and distance from us. This diversity not only affects the brightness and appearance of the stars but also the colours in which they emit light.
The Brightest star in the sky is Sirius, The dog star — it looks blue, Betelgeuse looks red, Capella looks yellow, because they are really of those colours.
By eye, only brightest stars seem to have colour, while the fainter ones all look white, because light receptors in our eyes aren’t very light-sensitive.
Another thing to point out that, stars aren’t scattered evenly across the sky, and as we are pattern-recognising animals, ancient astronomer found shapes and patterns and divided the sky into Constellations and named them after animals, mythological figures and everyday objects.
As of today, we recognise 88 official constellations in the sky.
Even if you don’t have dark skies, there is another thing you would notice when you look up, you might see that couple of brightest stars look different than others. They don’t twinkle, that’s because they’re planets.
Five of them can be seen with the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus may also be visible with keen eyesight. And that’s not all — the night sky also features shooting stars streaking across the sky, comets glowing with ethereal beauty, and satellites silently gliding by, leaving trails of light behind.
Take a step outside and let your gaze be drawn skyward. Who knows what celestial delights await you?
And If you stay outside for an hour or so, you will notice, stars appear to move in the sky as the night passes like a gigantic sphere wheeling around. This celestial sphere spins once everyday.
Long exposure photographs show stars making circular arcs in the sky around the celestial axis, with stars near the celestial equator making larger circles than those near the celestial poles. The North celestial pole is marked by Polaris, a bright and reliable point of reference that has been used for centuries as a navigational aid. 🔭
But as much as the night sky is beautiful, it’s also facing a threat. Light Pollution is a serious problem. Light from street lamps, shopping centres, and stadiums, is washing out the stars and making it harder for us to see the night sky in all its glory. The Milky Way, once a dazzling river of light, is now nothing more than a faint memory.
It’s not just people who are affected by this, either. Light Pollution affects the way nocturnal animals hunt, how insects breed and more, by disrupting their normal daily cycles.
Sky belongs to everyone and we should do what we can to make sure it’s the best possible sky we can see.
By taking steps to reduce our own contributions to it, and by supporting efforts to improve outdoor lighting practices, we can help preserve the natural beauty of the night sky for future generations.
Night sky is a vast and mysterious place, and with just your eyes, you can discover many of its wonders. Go outside and if you can, soak up your share and take a moment to appreciate the beauty and the magic of it. 🌌
What’s in the night sky today ? — click to know.
Do you know, why❓
From 88 official constellations in the sky, there are only 12 zodiac constellations? Let me know in the comments.
