Stargazing 19-10-19 [Transcript]

19/10/19

First off I can obviously[easily] make out the big dipper [ursa major]. Because of light pollution, it is quite difficult to make out the 4th star in Ursa major but I can follow the Pointers up to Polaris. Which is the Northern Star. From that [Polaris] I can get a good bearing on which direction south is and I can see Jupiter and Saturn, Jupiter is very low on the horizon now. About South/South West, Saturn is about 10 degrees off south [westward]. So Polaris is the tip of the handle on Ursa Minor. I can barely make out most of the stars within Ursa Minor; probably say 3, the two pointers similar to the big dipper and the tip of the handle [polaris]. From that, Draco, which looks like a serpent-like constellation, or appears to be. It could be light pollution that is affecting the clarity, but I can roughly make out the shape of it…. On the top of Draco [the head] there is a square formation. I can make out the western most star on that square, and across from that to the left is quite a bright star which I should figure out its name and what constellation it is a part of. To the West, about 5 or 10 degrees north of the horizon, I believe I can see Sirus(known of the bright twinkling star before), because of the multicoloured bright flickering, although not sure which constellation that is a part of. I looks as though there is a cross-like constellation. So Sirus would be at the very bottom of it, moving up in a straight line, connecting to two more bright stars. From that second, highest, forking out in the left and right direction looks as though there could be two other connections to stars. It is very, very obvious there is a lot of light pollution right now. I am seeing a lot more stars than I expected. To the East, I can see a lot more, which is my right. Where I am sitting, I am facing directly toward the Big Dipper, which is fortunate as it is used as a good signpost for figuring out the night sky. From Polaris, I think I can find…..Cassiopia Constellation, which looks like a 3 [form my orientation tonight] or an M turned on its side. Which its underside is always facing Polaris. From that, I should hopefully be able to make out an upside-down house constellation... And yes, it is quite close to Cassiopeia and Polaris, its kind of in-between and above them. But again, some of the Stars arent as prominent as the others. They get lost in the somewhat grey colour night sky. Down around the horizon, there is a deep blue glowing, theres no stars observable along the horizon, except for… Jupiter which is lost… Oh no, I can just make it out. Saturn is still quite high in the sky, high relative to Jupiter. Sirius must be a really bright burning star because along that horizontal plane about 10 degrees off the horizon, no other stars are visible along that line. If I am correct on that is Sirius[i’m not] that is a very bright star. Moving back to Cassiopia and looking directly down, not particularly following any lines of stars, there is a bright shimmering star and the only kind of constellation I can make out is a star from the 8 o’clock position and to the shimmering star’s right-hand side there are two fainter stars. Directly above me, there are certainly far more stars visible. On a personal note, I do notice a definite want to keep looking up into the sky. Even though it is quite cold out and wet where I’m sitting, I’m lost in the bizarrely beautiful massive amount of space, in terms of size. It doesn’t instantly make me feel smaller but it’s hard to quantify the feeling it gives. I’ve just noticed a big square constellation, I’d say about East, South East. It’s kind of in a kite space currently. The rightmost star, there is another star coming off from that to the right. There is one quite close to the northern-most star as well. Would be interesting to find out what constellation that belongs too. Its a shame, considering the light pollution, because it’s more difficult to observe directly above[physically holding your head back] for a long period of time, and with the light pollution, the lower levels close to the horizon, can’t see any stars at all. Can only imagine how beautiful it must look on a completely black [lightless] night.

I had a great experience spending a little time observing the night sky. With some information on what I should have been able to view using timeanddate.com/astronomy/night was useful for getting me started. Also being able to call out the constellations and their correct names felt strangely rewarding. Similar to finding Waldo. I also like how it's given me some stars and constellations to find the names for and learn from my own observations rather than just reading off of a website.