Re: CUBS SCIENTIST BADGE


"Matthew" <mdhnight@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1136455629.462876.84330@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oopps, forgot this next bit.

>
> Also, as a fall back for not being able to get out and spot
> constellations I'm thinking of making star patterns with pinpricks on
> black card, with a torch behind. Does this sound sensible or is there a
> better way?
>
> TIA

How about getting your Cubs to have a go at making a shoebox viewer?

Materials: shoebox, black card (100/120 gsm), black paint and brush,
needle(s)/compass/sharp point, scissors, yellow/white marker pen, star
map/atlas.

Method: Paint the inside of the shoebox and lid so that they are completely
black on the inside. (You're aiming for a light-proof box.) Cut out a
circular hole about 1 cm diameter in one end of the box. Then cut out the
other end of the box leaving about 2 - 3 cm on each side and the base. Cut
out rectangles from the black card about the same height, but slightly
wider, than the rectangle you cut out of one end of the box. Consult the
star map/atlas and choose some constellations. (3 are required for the badge
element, but most cubs will want to choose up to half a dozen.**) Using the
marker pen, mark out the star positions for each constellation on each
rectangle of black card. Push holes into the card where stars have been
marked. Use bigger holes for brighter stars. On the reverse of the black
card use the marker pen to draw lines to join the pin holes tracing out the
constellation back to front. Finally simply slot the card into the space at
the end of the box, hold up to a bright light, and view through the 1 cm
hole. Cubs can try recognising the constellations made by others in the
pack/six. You can tell whether they get them right by simply looking at the
reverse image of the constellation drawn on the back of the card and easily
seen from the outside. Simply take out the card and slot in another when
done.

A bigger project is to make a simple planetarium.

Materials: card (dark colour one side, white the other is best), ruler,
pen/marker, scissors, needle/pins/compass for holes, tape, 6V battery, 6V
bulb, bulb holder, connecting leads, small dowel, blu-tack.

Method: 5 (or optional 6) pieces of card 30 cm square. Trace a 15 x 15 grid
on each one with each small square measuring 2 cm x 2 cm. You now need some
star plans to copy on to the cards. I have a file of these - somewhere! -
and if anyone's interested I can post them to ukrsa. Use the
needles/pins/compass to make holes for the stars - large holes for bright
stars, small ones for dim ones. Tape 4 squares together along their edges -
the plans have the edges marked so they can be lined-up correctly - and tape
the 5th on top to form an open-sided box. Blu-tack the bulb holder with bulb
on to the small dowel and blu-tack the other end onto a table so that the
bulb is about 1/3rd the height of the box. (You really do need to raise the
bulb up so that it's towards, but not at, the centre of the box.) Connect
the bulb to the battery and finally position the box over the bulb. You need
to place the planetarium in the centre of a small/average sized room
(depends on how bright your bulb is really) and make sure the surroundings
are clear. Switch off the lights and switch on the bulb. Hopefully the
room - ceiling and walls - will be covered with projections of stars! (The
star templates I use have about 50 of the 88 constellations marked.)

(The optional 6th card has the south circumpolar stars on it. To use this
you simply take off the top square above, turn the box upside down and tape
the 6th square on top. Now you have the view from the southern hemisphere!)

You can consider each Six taking over responsibility for doing one of the
squares

While these are good little projects to do they are no substitute for going
outside and seeing the real thing! I do feel that for the badge requirement
cubs really should be able to identify the 3 constellations in the night
sky. It's not much use saying you can recognise Orion if you all you do is
wander out a gaze confusingly at the northern sky!

I'm sure there will be at least one night where seeing is good. Don't forget
to wrap up warm. Extinguish all white lights and use only red lights (rear
bike lights are best). Give yourselves 20 mins for your eyes to become
dark-adapted. Small bino's are useful at times, but you don't want anything
with too high a magnification as with a narrow field of view it's difficult
to recognise stars/constellations. Full Moon nights are not the best as the
reflected light from the Moon tends to make viewing faint stars difficult.
Sometime between Moon Last Quarter and First Quarter is ideal. (Jan 06:
First Q = 6th (just past), Full = 14th, Last = 22nd, New (no moon) = 29th)

** What constellations to choose? Well-known ones!

Compact constellations with a number bright stars (certainly brighter than
magnitude 4), visible to the naked eye, are best. Over/up/down in Ribchester
you shouldn't have as big a problem with light pollution as in big cities.
South tends to be the most favoured aspect for viewing as there are a number
of good constellations in this part of the sky, plus you've also got the
planets and moon. Northern aspect tends to be a bit dull and uninteresting.

Winter, particularly January is a good time/month for viewing well-known
easily identifiable constellations!

Right now Orion (the hunter) dominates the southern view and is probably the
most easily recognisable constellation with red supergiant star Betelgeuse
top-left (as you look at it), blue/white dwarf Rigel bottom-right, and the 3
stars in a line that make up the 'Belt' (Mintaka, Alnilam, Alnitak),. Below
the Belt is a line of what looks like three misty stars that make up the
Sword. Actually one of these misty objects isn't a star, but the most famous
of gaseous nebulae, the Great Nebula in Orion (or M42 to give it it's
Messier classification no.) A good pair of bino's shows it up reasonably
well.

Orion can be used as a signpost to other constellations.

Upward, the Belt shows the way to the orange-red star Aldebaran (the 'eye of
the Bull') in Taurus (the Bull) - and then onward to another faint misty
object, the Pleiades star cluster (most people can pick out 5/6 stars in
here, some exceptionally can see all '7 sisters' - but look through some
bino's and you'll see about 30-60!)

>From the Pleiades you can pick out an arc of stars heading westwards and up
to almost overhead. This is Perseus. It's not very striking and obvious to
see. Neither is the next one heading on westwards and up which is Andromeda.
Two hazy lines at best, but this constellation also contains another
fascinating hazy object M31 - the Andromeda Galaxy, the furthest object in
the Universe one can see with the naked eye. Onward and westward from here,
getting down low now to the western horizon, you come to 4 stars in a
'square', part of the constellation of Pegasus (the Winged Horse)

Downward, the Belt points to Sirius (the brightest star in the night sky) in
Canis Major. This constellation is low down towards the horizon and apart
from Sirius contains a few mainly faint stars.

If you go up and left (i.e. heading East and Up, about 45 deg) from
Betelgeuse you'll come to the constellation of Gemini (the Twins) with its 2
bright stars Castor and Pollux. From these two the rest of the constellation
appears as two lines of stars heading back to Betelgeuse.

Further on heading down and East from Gemini you'll come to Leo (the Lion),
easily
identified by its back-to-front 'question mark' or sickle (it's called an
asterism). Between Gemini
and Leo is the upside-down Y of Cancer (the Crab) - not very noticeable, but
right now Saturn is the brightest object there and can
be found near the v bit of the Y

North does contain a few very important constellations and a look this way
is highly recommended! One that most will recognise is the Plough, however,
this isn't a constellation! It's what astronomers call an asterism - a
noticeably shaped part of a constellation. The Plough is just the backside
and tail of a much larger constellation, Ursa Major (the Great Bear).

Unlike Orion and some other constellations low in the southern view, Ursa
Major is circumpolar and never sets below the horizon. (Orion is a
constellation of the winter months and sets during summer!).

Two stars of the plough, Merak and Dubhe, are known as the Pointers and a
line from them shows the way to Polaris (Pole Star) in Ursa Minor (a faint
version of the Plough). Contrary to what many believe Polaris is not a very
bright star. A line through Mizar (the 2nd star in the tail of the Plough
counting from the tail end) to Polaris and then onwards overhead leads to
the
constellation of Cassiopeia, easily recognisable as a W or M shape.

If you follow the arc of the tail of the Plough down you'll come to another
bright star Arcturus in the Constellation of Bootes (the Herdsman). Not
an easily recognisable constellation though.

As for planets, Venus is good low down in the West just after sunset - very
bright and unmistakeable. Mars is fading and not so good now (Right now it's
close to the Moon!) Saturn is ok and is in Cancer (the Crab).

For me, I'd choose three from Orion, Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Cassiopeia, the
Plough. (I'd give the last one even though it's not a constellation!)

HTH

GAGS

Well over my regulation 50 lines of nonsense I know, but hey it's my NY
resolution....... :-)


.

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