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Here are the 25 brightest stars, after the Sun, each listed by its common name, constellation in
which it can be found, and hemisphere from which it is visible:
Rank
Name
1.
Sirius
2.
Canopus
3.
Alpha Centauri
4.
Arcturus
5.
Vega
6.
Capella
7.
Rigel
8.
Procyon
9.
Achernar
10.
Hadar
11.
Betelgeuse
12.
Altair
13.
Aldebaran
14.
Acrux
15.
Antares
16.
Spica
17.
Pollux
18.
Fomalhaut
19.
Deneb
20.
Beta Crucis
21.
Regulus
22.
Adhara
23.
Castor
24.
Shaula
25.
Bellatrix
Take your time as you cruise the cosmos. Pick out a few of the brightest stars and study the stars
near them. Use the constellations to guide you to the dimmer stars that can easily escape the
casual observer.
For easier star watching, you will need to give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness.
Astronomers call this becoming darkness adapted. You will see best after about 20 minutes in
the dark. Care should be taken not to look directly at the bright projection lamp inside your
planetarium, so you don't ruin your night vision.
Constellation
Hemisphere
Canis Major
N & S
Carina
S
Centauri
S
Boôtes
N & S
Lyra
N & S
Auriga
N & S
Orion
N & S
Canis Minor
N & S
Eridanus
S
Centauri
S
Orion
N & S
Aquila
N & S
Taurus
N & S
Crux
S
Scorpius
N & S
Virgo
N & S
Gemini
N & S
Pisces Austrinis
N & S
Cygnus
N & S
Crux
S
Leo
N & S
Canis Major
N & S
Gemini
N & S
Scorpius
S
Orion
N & S
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How to Find the Visible Planets
Officially, there are eight planets and at least three dwarf planets in our solar system. Four of the
planets can be seen without the aid of a telescope or binoculars: Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
(Mercury stays close to the Sun, so it is very difficult to see. Ceres is too small and Uranus, Neptune,
Pluto and Eris are too far away to see without a high-powered telescope.) As they move in the sky
throughout the year, each appears to pass through certain constellations (the twelve zodiac
constellations plus four others) at any given time. This makes it easy to find them.
The Planet Position Tables in the back of this booklet show you where to locate the visible planets.
Look at how much a planet changes position and compare that to the planet's distance from the
Sun. Notice that the planets farthest from the Sun change position more slowly than the planets
closer to the Sun. Jupiter spends about a year drifting through a zodiac constellation, while Saturn
takes two years. Meanwhile, Mars and Venus go speeding through the zodiac constellations.
How to Project the Visible Planets
You can use the information in the Planet Position Tables in the back of this booklet to project the
planets with your planetarium. With the planet slide inserted in the Meteor Maker you can project
the locations of the planets. Suppose you want to project Jupiter as it appears July 2010. You can
see from the planet position table for 2010 that Jupiter will be in the constellation Pisces in July.
Set your planetarium to project a July sky at about two hours after sunset. Point the Meteor
Maker at Pisces and turn it on.
Jupiter is now in Pisces, high in the southeast sky! During the night it will move across the sky
and finally disappear over the western horizon in the morning.
Use the same method to find and project the other visible planets. As the nights go by, you can
compare the planets' positions in relation to the stars. Soon you will discover that as the planets
make their orbits around the Sun, they do move against the background stars as they travel
along the zodiac.
Stellarium Astronomy Software
The included Stellarium Astronomy computer software lets you explore the cosmos in great
detail. You can view the night sky for any time—past, present or future—and from any point on
Earth. You can see the constellations and their names and you can locate the positions of stars,
nebulas, planets, and their moons. Insert the Stellarium disk into your computer's CD player and
follow the set-up instructions on the screen. The software is compatible with either PC or Mac.
(Note: Software is not currently compatible with Windows Vista or Macs using Intel Processors.)
System requirements: Windows XP or Mac OS X with at least 500 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM
and 500 MB of hard disk space . Minimum recommended monitor resolutions is 1024 x 768 pixels.
Learn More About Astronomy
If you want to learn more about the exciting subject of astronomy, check out your school's
library, your local public library, a book store or the Internet. Astronomers are constantly making
new discoveries of the universe. Stay up to date!
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