What to see with the naked eye in January for Beaver Pack

NatureMy best friend is a Beaver Pack Leader and want to take her "troop"
star-watching in January and wonder which are the easiest stars etc to see
with the naked eye at that time of year?

I know 2003 is not over yet!! but I thought I get some suggestions now and
give her a head start in planning a session.

Thanks in advance.

NatureMy best friend is a Beaver Pack Leader and want to take her "troop"
star-watching in January and wonder which are the easiest stars etc to see
with the naked eye at that time of year?

I know 2003 is not over yet!! but I thought I get some suggestions now and
give her a head start in planning a session.

Can you give a rough time of observing and location?

Graeme

Mary

One of the best references is the Sky and
Telescope magazine's "sky charts" at:

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/

Set a location (nearest city will do more than
fine), a date and a time, and the visible main
stars, planets and deep-sky objects are displayed.

For Beavers (early evening necessary!) the stars
of Cassiopeia (W shape), Ursa Major (the plough),
Orion, and Gemini would probably be the best to
show and explain. Saturn will be bright, and Mars
still reasonably so. The Pleiades will be very
visible as would the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and
the Orion Nebula (M42). The latter 3 would be
better seen in binoculars that I am sure can be
scrounged up from somewhere. Glare from the moon
will wash out less dim stars and M42/M31, so
either choose a moon free evening or actively look
at the moon. Of course, finding a gap in the
clouds at a particular time on a particular day of
the week in mid winter will be very difficult!

I help out and take a telescope to occasional
astro evenings at 2 local beaver/cab/scout packs,
I am sure that you would be able to find local
amateur astronomers willing to help out; just ask
at this NG or with a local astronomical society.

Adam

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Eschew obfuscation. Eliminate such idiom previous
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"Mary Shakespeare"
wrote in message
...
NatureMy best friend is a Beaver Pack Leader and
want to take her "troop"
star-watching in January and wonder which are
the easiest stars etc to see
with the naked eye at that time of year?

I know 2003 is not over yet!! but I thought I
get some suggestions now and
give her a head start in planning a session.

Thanks in advance.

Get them all to look at the Pleiades and draw what stars they see, its an
interesting eye site test and I suspectt hat some will see more stars than
others.

Orion is a good constellation to look at and if you have binoculars or a
small telescope go for the orion nebulae.

Planets may be visible, such as Saturn and of course the moon is always good
fun.

Lilian

Mary Shakespeare wrote:
NatureMy best friend is a Beaver Pack Leader and want to take her
"troop" star-watching in January and wonder which are the easiest stars
etc to see with the naked eye at that time of year?

See:
http://www.astspace.demon.co.uk/nigh...lyNightSky.htm and
http://www.nightsky.org.uk/

--
Best,
Stephen
http://www.astunit.com