UNPh36

School Science Lessons
Astronomy experiments
Updated: 2008-04-21
Please send comments to: J.Elfick@uq.edu.au

Table of Contents
7.1.0 Instruments for astronomy
7.4.0 Sundials
7.14.0 Stars and planets
7.28.0 Celestial phenomena
7.36.0 Effects of the Earth's motion
7.44.0 Models and demonstrations
7.51.0 Space science

7.1.0 Instruments for astronomy
7.1 Simple refracting telescope
7.2 Simple reflecting telescope
7.3 Simple theodolite or astrolabe, sextant

7.4.0 Sundials
7.4 Demonstration sundials
7.5 Flowerpot sundial
7.6 Find north by the length of a shadow during the day
7.7 Sunrise and sunset
7.8 Make a sundial
7.9 Measure the altitude of the Moon and the Sun
7.10 Make a range finder
7.11 Make a model earth
7.12 Time zones and sidereal time, ships watches
7.12.1 Great circles
7.13 Find due north
7.68 Demonstration sundials (Southern hemisphere)
7.69 Sundial for your home
7.70 Universal globe sundial
7.70B Parallel rays of the sun
7.70.5 Building sundials
7.70.6 Make a pocket sundial
4.42 The sun and sundials (primary)

7.14.0 Stars and planets
3.3.3 Astronomical unit, AU
3.8.0 Ellipse
7.14 Find the main constellations
7.14.1 List of constellations
7.15 Magnitude
7.16 Albedo
7.17 Azimuth and altitude, the horizontal system of co-ordinates
7.18 Find constellations from north of the equator, Northern hemisphere
7.19 Find constellations from south of the equator, Southern hemisphere
7.20 The equatorial system of co-ordinates, latitude and longitude, declination and right ascension, zenith, star chart for the tropics
7.21 Apparent daily rotation of the sky, axis of rotation of the Earth
7.22 Ecliptic, apparent yearly path of the Sun against the background of stars
7.23 Obliquity of the ecliptic
7.24 Is Pluto a planet?
7.25 Model of the solar system
7.26 The "Morning Star" and the "Evening Star"
7.27 Movements of planets
7.76 Make a constellarium
7.76B Umbrella constellarium
7.77 Seasonal shift of the sky
7.78 Tell the time and the date by the stars
7.78A Star calendar
7.78B Star clock
6.20 The Southern Cross constellation (primary)

7.28.0 Celestial phenomena
7.28 The phases of the Moon and its apparent position in the sky
7.29 Observe the Moon for four weeks
7.30 Observe the positions of the Moon
7.31 Observe "the man in the Moon"
7.32 Observe the rising and setting moon
7.33 Observe a solar eclipse
7.34 Observe a lunar eclipse
7.35 Rotation period of the Sun
6.19 The moon and tides (primary)

7.36.0 Effects of the Earth's motion
2.239.3 Foucault pendulum
7.36 Foucault pendulum
7.37 Miniature Foucault pendulum
7.38 Seasonal change of position of the Sun, solstice
7.39 Photograph star trails
7.40 Astrology and the zodiac
7.41 Circumference of the Earth, the method of Eratosthenes, 250 B.C.
7.42 Equinox, celestial co-ordinate system, latitude and longitude, right ascension, precession of the equinoxes
7.43 Find the north-south line from the Sun

7.51.0 Space science
4.129 Magnifying power of a lens
7.12 Star of Bethlehem and birth of Jesus
7.14 Navigation data used by a ship at sea
7.16 Diurnal aberration of a star
7.51 Discover action-reaction on roller skates
7.52 Build action reaction engines
7.53 Discover thrust
7.54 Discover weightlessness, reference systems
7.55 Angle, degree, arc minute, arc second, radian
7.56 Light year
7.106 Satellite launcher
7.107 Kepler's laws of planetary motion (Johann Kepler 1571-1630)
7.108 Newton's universal law of gravitation, gravitational constant, G
7.109 Gravitational potential energy

7.44.0 Models and demonstrations
7.44 Phases of the Moon and lunar eclipses
7.45 Simulated solar eclipse
7.46 Why an eclipse does not occur at every new and full moon
7.47 The cause of the seasons
7.48 Differences in the length of day and night
7.49 Effects of the angle of the Sun's rays on the Earth
7.50 Calendars
7.101 Make a spectroscope for materials analysis
15.3.0.2 Rotational and translational kinetic energy of the earth

7.12 Star of Bethlehem and birth of Jesus
If Jesus was born Sunday, 1 March, 7 BC, this was the year of the triple conjunction of the same two planets when in 27 May, 5 October and 1 December, Jupiter moved close to Saturn in the constellation Pisces. The conjunctions were first calculated by the astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1603. The first conjunction may have started the magi on their journey to Israel. The second conjunction may have guided them. The third conjunction in December may have pointed to the birth of Jesus. However, there was also a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Leo in June 2 BC. In AD 314 Emperor Constantine the Great changed the date of the birth of Jesus from 1 March to 25 December to be the same date as a pagan sun festival. The star seen in the east to guide the wise men is only mentioned in the Gospel according to St. Matthew.

7.14 Navigation data used by a ship at sea
Position: 10.23 UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) replaced Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the World standard for time in 1986. It is based on atomic measurements rather than the earth's rotation. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is still the standard time zone for the Prime Meridian (Zero Longitude).
20^o57.05' S
039^o52.82' W
Course: 32^o
Speed: 18.8 Kts (knots)
Relative wind: 55 Km \ h
Depth of sea: 47 metres (154 feet)
N | | NE | | E
Ships time: 07.29
Water temperature: 25^oC
Air temperature: 29^oC
Conditions: Cloudy sky
Air pressure hPa
Beaufort Wind Scale 3 (Beaufort number 0 --> 12) (See Interesting websites "Beaufort scale")
Wind direction: 8 km / h from South
Barometer: 1015 mb, 761 mm Hg, 30.00 inch
Tendency: Slowly increasing

7.16 Diurnal aberration of a star
An observer at the equator can observe a movement of any star to the east at a rate of 0.32 seconds of arc per day due to the rotation of the Earth on its axis. However, that observed movement reduces to zero as the observer approaches the poles. Diurnal aberration of a star is the direct evidence that the earth is not fixed in space.

7.68 Demonstration sundials (drawn for the Southern hemisphere)
Place an upright metre stick in the ground so that it is not likely to be shaded from the sun. Mark the position of the top of the metre stick on the ground at hourly intervals.
See diagrams 7.68A, 7.68B

7.69 Sundial for your home
See diagram 7.69
Make the base with a flat rectangular piece of wood, metal or polystyrene. The gnomon ABC consists of a thin triangular piece of metal or plastic and such that angle ABC = latitude of the place at which the dial is being set up and angle ACB = 90^o. Use a spirit level to test that the base is horizontal. The central line must lie along the north south line, i.e. the meridian. Erect the gnomon vertically so that the hypotenuse points towards the Pole Star in the Northern hemisphere and the celestial south pole in the Southern hemisphere. For approximate results, make the hour markings by noting the position of the shadow of the gnomon at hourly intervals, using a watch set to local mean time. You can obtain more accurate results if the markings are made on 15 April, 15 June, 1 September or 24 December, when there is no difference between watch time and dial time. Errors of up to 16 minutes are possible if you make markings on other dates. For accurate hour markings, find the angles the markings make with BC using the following formulae: tan IOC = tan 15^osin lat.; tan IIBC = tan 30^osin lat; tan IIIBC = tan 45^osin lat.; tan IVBC = tan 60^osin lat; tan VBC = tan 75^osin lat.; tan VIBC = tan 90^osin lat. Since the markings are symmetrical about the central line XY you do not need to calculate other angles. If the base of the dial is erected vertically then the angle between the gnomon and the base must equal 90^ominus latitude of that
place.

7.70 Universal globe sundial
See diagram 7.70A
With a globe of the earth you can make a sundial that shows the season of the year, the regions of dawn and dusk, and the hour of the day wherever the sun is shining. The globe is rigidly oriented as an exact model of the earth in space, with its polar axis parallel to the earth's axis, and with your own town "on top of the world". First turn the globe until its axis lies in your local meridian, in the true north and south plane. Find this by observing the shadow of a vertical object at local noon, or by observing the Pole Star on a clear night, or by consulting a magnetic compass, if you know the local variation of the compass, the magnetic deviation. Turn the globe on its axis until the circle of longitude through your home lies in the meridian. Tilt the axis around an east west horizontal line until your home town stands at the very top of the world. Now your meridian circle connecting the poles of your globe lies vertically in the north south plane. A line drawn from the centre of the globe to your local zenith will pass directly through your home spot on the map. Lock the globe in this position and let the rotation of the earth do the rest. Be patient and do not turn the globe at a rate greater than that of the turning of the earth. However, it will take a year for the sun to tell you all it can before it begins to repeat its story. When you look at the globe fixed in this proper orientation you can see half of it lighted by the sun and half of it in shadow. These are the actual halves of the earth in light or darkness at that moment. An hour later, the circle separating light from shadow has turned westward and its intersection with the equator having moved 15^oto the west. On the side of the circle west of you, the sun is rising; on the side east of you, the sun is setting. You can count the hours along the equator between your home meridian and the sunset line and estimate how many hours of sunlight remain that day. Look to the west of you and see how soon the sun will rise there. As you watch the globe day after day, you will become aware of the slow turning of the circle northward or southward, depending upon the time of year.

7.70B Parallel rays of the sun
BE CAREFUL! DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN THROUGH THE TUBE AS DIRECT SUN RAYS CAN DESTROY THE RETINA OF YOUR EYE.
1. To show that the sun's rays are parallel as they fall on the earth, on a bright morning, point a piece of pipe or a cardboard tube at the sun so that it casts a small, ring shaped shadow. If at the same moment a person 120^oeast of you, one third of the way round the world, performs the same experiment, that person points the tube westward at the afternoon sun. Yet that tube and yours approximately parallel. If you point the tube at the sun in the afternoon, and someone far to the west simultaneously does the same in the morning, that tube will approximately parallel to your tube. So when our globes are properly set up, people all over the world who are in sunlight will see them illuminated in just the same way.
2. You can tell from the global sundial how many hours of sunlight any latitude receives on any particular day. Count the number of 15^o longitudinal divisions that lie within the lighted circle at the desired latitude. Thus, at 40^onorth latitude in summer the circle may cover 225^oof longitude along the 40th parallel, representing 15 divisions or 15 hours of sunlight. However, in winter the circle may cover only 135^o, representing nine divisions or nine hours. As soon as the lighted circle passes beyond either pole, that pole has 24 hours of sunlight a day, and the opposite pole is in darkness.

7.70.5 Building sundials
See diagram 7.70.5
The gnomon is the part of the sundial that produces the shadow. The top edge of the gnomon must slant upward away from the base, or horizontal, at an angle equal to the latitude of the observer and towards the South for an observer in the Southern hemisphere. The gnomon must be aligned along the N-S meridian. The hour lines are marked on the other part of the sundial, called the time plane. The configuration of the gnomon and the time plane identifies the type of sundial that has been constructed. In the diagram, the shaded area represents a sundial. The top edge of the gnomon is parallel to the earth's axis and the angle, gamma, between the top edge of the gnomon and the horizontal is equal to the latitude of the observation site. A horizontal sundial has the hour lines are marked on a time plane horizontal to the earth's surface. You can use the data in Table 3 to construct your horizontal sundial. The table contains hour angles for some cities and towns in Queensland, Australia, calculated by using spherical trigonometry. Note how the hour angles vary with latitude.
Table 3: Hour angles for the horizontal sundial

Time AM	Time PM	Brisbane	Rock- hampton	Mackay	Towns- ville	Cairns	Too- woomba	Longreach	Mt. Isa
11 hours or	13 hours	07.0	06.1	05.5	5.0	07.5	07.1	06.1	05.4
10 hours or	14 hours	17.8	12.9	11.7	10.8	09.5	13.0	12.9	11.5
09 hours or	15 hours	27.6	21.7	19.8	18.2	16.2	27.9	21.7	19.4
08 hours or	16 hours	38.4	37.5	31.9	29.7	26.7	38.8	37.5	31.4
07 hours or	17 hours	59.7	56.0	53.3	50.8	47.3	60.0	56.0	52.7

On a square sheet of cardboard draw a line perpendicular to one edge to represent the 12h 00 m hour line. Use a protractor to draw lines spreading out from the 12h 00 m hour line at the angles in the table if you are in one of the places in Table 3. If you live in Queensland outside these places, find out the latitude of your place and estimate the hour angles, e.g. the hour angle corresponding to 11 AM and 1 PM for Maryborough would be somewhere between 7.0^o (Brisbane) and 6.1^o(Rockhampton). Label the hour lines as in the diagram. Use another piece of cardboard to cut out the gnomon with one angle equal to the latitude of your location. Attach the gnomon to your sundial base along the 12h 00 m hour line with the angle equal to your latitude pointing North. The angle shown in Figure 3 is the latitude of Brisbane. Align the gnomon along the N - S meridian.

7.70.6 Make a pocket sundial
Cut a wire coat hanger in half and set the angle to the latitude of your location. Attach the coat hanger to a cardboard base marked with the hour lines and align the gnomon north south. Use the sundial to investigate the altitude of the sun and the passage of time during the day. Maintain daily records of the progress of sunrise and sunset to the North and South.

7.76 Make a constellarium
See diagram 7.76Bd: Northern hemisphere, Southern hemisphere
7.76.1 A constellarium is a simple device used in teaching the shapes of various constellations. Use a cardboard or wooden box and remove one end. Draw the shapes of various constellations on pieces of dark coloured cardboard large enough to cover the end of the box. Punch holes on the diagrams where the stars are located in the constellations. Place an electric lamp inside the box. When the lamp is turned on and various cards are placed over the end of the box, the constellations may be seen clearly.
Another way is to obtain several tin cans into which an electric lamp may be fitted. Holes are punched in the bottoms of the cans to represent the stars in various constellations. When the lamp is placed inside a can and switched on, the light shows through the openings and the shape of the constellations may be observed. The cans may be painted to prevent rusting and kept from year to year.

7.76B Umbrella constellarium
Since an umbrella has the shape of the inside of a sphere, it can be made into a constellarium that will illustrate portions of the heavens and how they move. You will need an old umbrella that is large enough for this purpose.
The Northern hemisphere: Using chalk, mark the North Star, or Polaris, next to the centre on the inside of the umbrella. Consult a star map, and mark the star positions for various constellations with crosses. When you have filled in all the polar constellations, you can paste white stars made from gummed labels over the crosses, or you may paint the stars in with white paint. Later you can draw dotted lines with white paint or chalk to join the stars in a given constellation. If the handle of the umbrella is rotated in a counter clockwise direction, you will see how the various stars trace a circular path about the Pole Star.
The Southern hemisphere: South of the equator, the umbrella should be pointed towards the southern celestial pole and we will therefore have to turn it clockwise. As in the Northern hemisphere, the stars will rise in the east and set in the west. In the diagram above you can see some of the more prominent stars and constellations marked on the umbrella.

7.77 Seasonal shift of the sky
As the earth travels in its orbit around the sun the constellations seem to move across the sky. The materials required for observing the shift are a star chart and a plumb line. Make observations as described in 7.75, except that you make only one set of observations and record the time. At least one month later, repeat the same observations in the same way, at as nearly the same time of night as possible. When you compare the two observations made at the same time of night, what change do you see in one month, or more? How much change would occur in one year, if the same rate continues? What does this mean, when you recall that we tell time by the sun? Will there be a time of year when you cannot see Orion, for example at all? Answer the same questions for the Big Dipper and North Star, if you are north of the equator. What about the Southern Cross if you are south of the equator?

7.78 Tell the time and the date by the stars
Because the stars appear to rotate one full revolution in 24 hours, they can be useful in telling time, at least during those hours of darkness when the stars are visible to us. Because the stars also make one full revolution in a year, they can be used to tell us the time of the year. And so we have not only a star clock, but also a star calendar.

7.78A Star calendar
See diagram 7.78BN: Northern hemisphere | See diagram 7.78BS: Southern hemisphere
The dates round the edge of the star chart for the Northern hemisphere show when the corresponding part of the heavens is due north at midnight. For the Southern hemisphere the dates show the part which is due south at midnight. Knowing this you can easily rotate the star map so that it corresponds to what you see in the sky. If you are north of the equator and you have to rotate the map 15^o clockwise from the midnight position, the time is 1 a.m.; if you have to rotate it 30^ocounter clockwise, the time is 10 p.m. South of the equator it is the other way round since you are facing south. If you have to turn the map 15^o clockwise from the midnight position it means that the time is 11 p.m. The times determined this way are sun times and they may differ from your local standard time.

7.78B Star clock
Separate sets of diagrams are given below for the northern and Southern hemispheres, one clock for each month. The nine o'clock positions of the star clock's hand are marked of f at the middle of some months. Can you fill in the nine o'clock positions for May, August and November? Try to fill in midnight positions for June, September and December. In the Southern hemisphere, locate roughly the southern celestial pole.

7.91 Star trails in colour
The stars are as colourful as land subjects, but this is not generally known because dark adapted eyes have low sensitivity to colour. High speed colour film and a camera with at least an f 3.5 lens will record the red star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion, the yellow star Capella in the constellation Auriga, and the gold star Albireo in the constellation Cygnus. The constellation Cassiopeia contains two blue, one white, one golden, and one green star. A good camera that can make time exposures, a rigid tripod, and fast film are all you need. The simple star charts in this book will help you to identify the constellations. Your local public library may have books on amateur astronomy which contain similar charts. Dial indicators that show all the constellations overhead when the dial is set for the month, day, and hour, are also obtainable in some countries. The earth rotates 15^o per hour, or 10 every 4 minutes. To us on the earth, it is easier to appreciate this movement by assuming that the stars move. Furthermore, the stars appear to rotate around your celestial pole. Each star near the pole traces a tight circle in its movement, and as the distance from the pole increases, the radius of curvature increases until the stars above the equator appear to travel in straight lines. A star is a true point source of light and no movement of the camera can be tolerated unless you want pigtails for star images. All trouble can be avoided if you mount your camera on a rigid tripod, cover the lens with a cardboard, use a long cable release to open the shutter on time or bulb, wait 3 seconds or so for the camera to stop moving, and then remove the cardboard from in front of the lens. At the end of the exposure, again cover the lens with a cardboard before closing the shutter. Commercial processing laboratories will probably not recognize star images for what they are and, unless you instruct them otherwise, will return your negatives unprinted.

7.92 Photograph constellations
See diagram 7.92B
1. Photographs of constellations add an aesthetic purpose to photographing star trails. The results make beautiful prints and slides in both black and white and colour, and they prove to be a very effective teaching medium. There are many techniques for photographing constellations, but a favourite is as follows: select a particular constellation, set up the camera, and expose for 30 minutes with high speed black and white film, 400 ASA and a lens opening of f 11; then cover the lens for 2 minutes, open it to f 4, and throw it slightly out of focus; finally, uncover the lens for 3 more minutes. A diffusion screen over the lens for the final exposure works just as well as throwing the lens slightly out of focus. The resulting picture shows a constellation that appears to be plunging through space with a tail following each star.
2. Underexposed and discarded 35 mm film slides can be perforated with a pinpoint in the form of various constellations. The slides can be projected on to a screen or used in a viewer, and students can try to identify the constellations. The slides can also be dropped into a slot made in a mailing tube and held up to the light.

7.93 Photograph satellites
Satellites are a joy to photograph. Use the same camera technique as for star trails, see above. Kodak Tri-X Pan film is an excellent choice. Use Kodak HC-110 developer, diluted 1: 15 at 24^oC for 4 minutes. The main problem is to know ahead of time where to aim your camera. There are several sources for this information: many newspapers publish daily the times, the degrees above the western or eastern horizon, and the direction of travel for all visible satellites. Also, local astronomical observatories and amateur astronomical clubs may be able to furnish the required data for you. Satellite photography is particularly rewarding when the satellite path crosses a well known constellation, or if you are extremely lucky, perhaps two satellites will cross within your photograph. It is this unknown factor that continues to attract the amateur, as well as the professional, astronomical photographer.

7.101 Make a spectroscope for materials analysis
See also 2.222
By using a sensitive instrument called a spectroscope, scientists are of ten able to analyse the composition of materials located a great distance away. The spectroscope has been used to determine the composition of the sun and other stars and of the atmosphere of many of the planets. Spacemen in the future will use this kind of device to analyse the chemical composition of their immediate surroundings. Light entering a spectroscope is split up by a diffraction grating to form coloured bands, which we call a spectrum. Since each chemical element shows certain characteristic bright Shoe box spectroscope lines in its spectrum the material can thus be easily identified. The materials required are a shoe box, replica grating, see science supply catalogues, some masking tape, and a double edged razor blade broken in two. Cut a hole of about 2 cm diameter in the middle of one end of the box. Use tape to fix a piece of replica grating over the hole from the inside. Cut a 2.5 cm X 0.5 cm slit, which should be parallel to the lines of the grating, in the middle of the other end. Cover the slit from the outside with a finer slit made from two halves of a razor blade, edges facing each other. The two halves are held together and fixed to the box with tape. The width of the slit should be about the same as the thickness of a razor blade and is finally adjusted for the best results, see diagram. Look through the spectroscope at various luminous gases such as neon and argon in lamps or signs. Notice the bright lines in the spectrum, which indicate that each element has its own pattern.

7.106 Satellite launcher
See diagram 7.106
Materials required are a bucket, a football, a coat hanger, or other suitable wire, sinker or weight, a piece of string and a test-tube or a cap of some sort.
Place the ball securely in the bucket. Bend the wire so that about 30 cm of it is straight and the rest is curved into a circular base as shown in the sketch. Using masking tape, secure the circular portion on the ball, allowing the straight, 30 cm portion to stand upright in the centre of the top of the ball. Attach the sinker or weight to the string. Fasten the other end of the string to the test-tube or cap with tape. Invert the cap on top of the upright wire, see diagram. Explain that the ball represents the earth, and the sinker represents the satellite. All that it takes to set the sinker into motion in any direction is the tap of a finger. Let the students find out what happens when the satellite is launched in the following different ways:
1. With a slight tap, push the sinker up and away from the surface of the ball, as shown in the figure. The sinker moves up and then falls back to the starting point. This is how an object travels when it is projected at low speed straight up from the earth.
2. With a slight tap, push the sinker of f the surface of the ball at an angle. Show by a diagram what happens. The sinker moves away from the ball and then falls back at some distance from the starting point. The distance spanned depends upon the angle of launching and upon the forcefulness of the tap.
3. With a stronger tap, push the sinker of f the surface of the ball at an angle. Make a diagram of the orbit. The sinker moves away from the ball, circles it, and lands. Evidently, a complete orbit passes through the starting point of the orbit.

7.107 Kepler's laws of planetary motion (Johann Kepler 1571-1630)
Law 1. The orbit of a planets is an ellipse, with the sun at one focus of the ellipse.
Law 2. Each planet moves such that a line connecting the planet to the sun would sweep equal areas in equal times.
Law 3. The ratio of the square of the time of planetary revolution (sidereal period) to the cube of its distance from the sun is constant for all planets.

7.108 Newton's universal law of gravitation, gravitational constant, G
Any two particles of matter attract each other with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to square of the distance between them,
F = m1m2G/d^{2

F = force of gravitational attraction}m = mass of a particle
d = distance between the particles
G = gravitational constant
G = 6.67259 X 10^-11 Nm²kg^-2

7.109 Gravitational potential energy
The energy an object possesses because of its position in a gravitational field is called its gravitational potential energy. On the Earth the gravitational acceleration is about 9.8 m/s². The potential energy of an object at a height h above the ground = the work required to lift the object to that height. The force required to lift the object = its weight, so gravitational potential energy = the weight of an object X times the height it is lifted.
In space, the force approaches zero for large distances. so the gravitational potential energy near a planet is negative because gravity does positive work as a mass approaches. The small mass approaching the large mass of a planet it bound to it unless it can get acces to enough energy to escape. The general form of the gravitational potential energy of mass m is:
PE = -GM1m2/ r
G = the gravitation constant
M = mass of the planet
m = mass of the approaching object
r = distance between the centers of the planet and the approaching object

7.14.1 List of constellations
Latin name, English name
Andromeda, Andromeda
Antlia, Air Pump
Apus, Bird of Paradise
Aquarius (in the Zodiac), Water Bearer
Aquila, Eagle
Ara, Altar
Aries (in the Zodiac), Ram
Auriga, Charioteer
Bootes, Herdsman
Caelum, Chisel
Camelopardalis, Giraffe
Cancer (in the Zodiac), Crab
Canes Venatici, Hunting Dogs
Canis Major, Great Dog
Canis Minor, Little Dog
Capricornus (in the Zodiac), Sea Goat
Carina, Keel
Cassiopeia, Cassiopeia
Centaurus, Centaur
Cepheus, Cepheus
Cetus, Whale
Chamaeleon, Chameleon
Circinus, Compasses
Columba Dove
Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair
Corona Australis, Southern Crown
Corona Borealis, Northern Crown
Corvus, Crow
Crater Cup
Crux, Southern Cross
Cygnus Swan
Delphinus, Dolphin
Dorado, Swordfish
Draco, Dragon
Equuleus, Little Horse
Eridanus, River Eridanus
Fornax, Furnace
Gemini (in the Zodiac), Twins
Grus, Crane
Hercules, Hercules
Horologium, Clock
Hydra, Sea Serpent
Hydrus, Water Snake
Indus, Indian
Lacerta, Lizard
Leo (in the Zodiac), Lion
Leo Minor, Little Lion
Lepus, Hare
Libra (in the Zodiac), Scales
Lupus, Wolf
Lynx, Lynx
Lyra, Harp
Mensa, Table
Microscopium, Microscope
Monoceros, Unicorn
Musca, Fly
Norma, Level
Octans, 0ctant
Ophiuchus, Serpent Bearer
Orion, Orion
Pavo, Peacock
Pegasus, Winged Horse
Perseus, Perseus
Phoenix, Phoenix
Pictor, Easel
Pisces (in the Zodiac), Fishes
Piscis Austrinus, Southern Fish
Puppis, Ship's Stern
Pyxis, Mariner's Compass
Reticulum, Net
Sagitta, Arrow
Sagittarius (in the Zodiac), Archer
Scorpius (in the Zodiac), Scorpion
Sculptor, Sculptor
Scutum, Shield
Serpens, Serpent
Sextans, Sextant
Taurus (in the Zodiac), Bull
Telescopium, Telescope
Triangulum, Triangle
Triangulum Australe, Southern Triangle
Tucana, Toucan
Ursa Major, Great Bear, Charles's wain
Ursa Minor, Little Bear, Cynosura, Dog's tail (the pole star is alpha in the tail)
Vela, Sails
Virgo (in the Zodiac), Virgin
Volans, Flying Fish
Vulpecula, Fox

History of experiments in this document
Astronomy and space science experiments (this document) is a revision, updating and expansion of the New UNESCO source book for science teaching, UNESCO, Paris, Third impression 1979, ISBN 92-3-101058-1 by Dr John Elfick, School of Education, University of Queensland, Australia assisted by Mr R. Smith, Central Queensland University, Australia, working under UNESCO contract 8347201.
The first stage in the editing process was done in China and was published in Chinese as "GUOWAI ZHONGXUE SHIYAN DILI (Overseas Middle School Experiments - Geography) J. Elfick editor Author(s): Lin Peiying and Zeng Hongying, Capital Normal University Press, Beijing, December 1996 ISBN 7-81039-805-9/G.662 Price Yuan 7.50. The difficult work of co-ordination and interpretation was done by UNESCO Assistant Programme Officers Mr Howard Jiang and Ms Ye Mai. The publication was used for inservice training and was thoroughly reviewed by geography teachers in China. This book was on the Ministry of Education, People's Republic of China "All China Approved Book List for primary and Secondary Schools" and is on sale to the public in China. This book was designed to give a wider choice of experiments to teachers of geography in Chinese middle schools. The amount of descriptive detail in the experiments is designed to be the minimum needed for doing the experiment by a trained geography teacher. Each experiment is thought to be one of the simplest and least expensive ways of displaying the concept. However, a teacher should check the experimental details in a geography text recommended for use in that school system.