Members In-Reach – Using Stellarium w/Dr. John Bickel
“How to Use Stellarium Software to Find Specific Objects in the Night Sky”
with DAS Member Dr. John Bickel.
This is an in-person, hands-on event!
*** THIS IS A SPECIAL EVENT FOR OUR REGISTERED MEMBERS AND IS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ***
Intended audience: New observers, New DAS members
Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees will be able to demonstrate in the field:
- Opening Stellarium and set up proper time and observer GPS coordinates for a planned viewing session
- Determine which Stars, Galaxies, and Nebula will be visible in the time frame for planned viewing
- Determine which Stars, Galaxies, and Nebula will not be visible
- Extract azimuth and altitude coordinates to use in a home telescope
- Direct their personal telescope to the azimuth and altitude coordinates
Prerequisites:
- Before the In-Reach Event attendees should download a copy of Stellarium either to a personal laptop or iPad
- Stellarium software for a laptop can be downloaded for free at: https://stellarium.org/
- Stellarium software for an iPad can be downloaded for free on the Apple App Store by searching for ‘Stellarium’
- Paper notebook and pen for recording planned observing time, azimuth/altitude of specific night sky objects
- Warm winter clothing for outside observing session after the indoor training session
- If you have a portable telescope, bring it for the observing session (instructor will bring a 130 mm Celestron Newtonian telescope as a back-up).
This In-Reach Event will consist of a 30-45 minute lecture on Stellarium inside of Chamberlin Observatory, followed by a coffee break, then an outdoor observing session where attendees will apply what they have learned on their personal telescopes.
