Clear Skies – Time For Stargazing

Abruzzo is not the most populated region of Italy.   Finding open spaces away from the picturesque towns and villages isn’t a problem.  Since tonight should have clear skies, and since it’s easy to find open spaces, this could be the perfect night for a bit of stargazing! 

There aren’t too many constellations I can recognise without resorting to a book, but that can be overcome easily enough, as I’ll explain later.  One of the key things to know about stars is that their position changes with time and location.  So it’s good to have an anchor, some star pattern you recognise and from which you can easily find others.  The usual suspects are the constellations  Orion and Ursa Major, and bright stars like Sirius and Polaris.

So tonight, between 21:00 and 22:00, find a location that doesn’t have too much artificial light (street lights, shop lights), look west and at an elevation of around 20 to 30 degrees – you should see Orion (The Hunter).

Looking higher in the sky, but again in a general west direction, you’ll see Castor and Pollux, the brightest stars of the constellation Gemini.

Going back to Orion, there are three stars that make up Orion’s belt.  If you use Orion’s belt as a pointer, follow it towards the left (south) you’ll meet Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, part of Canis Major.  If you go the go the other way, following Orion’s belt to the right, you’ll meet Aldebaran, part of Taurus.

There are many great free computer programs that help you spot constellations and identify stars.  I use Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel.  Although the user interfaces are different, they both will give you star positions based on your location, the date and the time.  The screen shot I have provided was created using Stellarium.

Stargazing (with the naked eye) is certainly not expensive (perhaps the price of a bottle of wine!) and it can be done just as easily on your own or with family and friends.  All you need are the right conditions, which Abruzzo can easily provide.

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