Constellations and sunlight at a distance

This article provides information on why constellations look the same no matter where we are on Earth (or apparently in the Solar System!). It also asks students to imagine (and determine ma... See More

This article provides information on why constellations look the same no matter where we are on Earth (or apparently in the Solar System!). It also asks students to imagine (and determine mathematically) how the Sun would look from different locations in the Solar System. Both of these are good lessons to get students to think along the lines of distance and scale (especially together!) to better understand that our Sun is a star and that stars are not the small pinpoints they appear to be in the sky. One of the most common misconceptions I have run across at all levels of secondary education, is the idea that stars ARE the smallest thing in the sky, not just visually but in reality as well. This helps to address that misconception and I have used the "looking at the Sun from other planets" analogy many times to try to help students to visualize how big stars must be for us to even see them from Earth.

The Law of Inverse Squares and Star Brightness

Asterisms are identifiable groupings of stars in the evening sky. The Big Dipper is an asterism found in a constellation called Ursula Major. This article deals with the Law of Inverse squ... See More

Asterisms are identifiable groupings of stars in the evening sky. The Big Dipper is an asterism found in a constellation called Ursula Major. This article deals with the Law of Inverse squares. If the distance between Earth and the Sun were suddenly doubled we would see the Sun as being one half as bright then what it appears to us now. This means that seeing the sun from other location in our galaxy affects the apparent brightness of the sun. When we look at an asterism with or constellation in a 2D view it is very different in a 3D view. Reading this article explain why.