Sky Search Badge

Related objectives

Star Finder ..... Try these questions after you make and use your star finder.

Use your starfinder to show someone else the constellations which are in the sky on your birthday. Which is your favorite of these constellations?________________

Set the star finder to find out what constellations are in the sky on a friend's birthday. Are these the same ones that are in the sky on your birthday? _______

Why or why not? ___________________________________________

Name six constellations and describe their shape.  How many stars are in each one?  

Are the stars all alike? Where can you find these constellations in the sky?.  

Constellation Shape Number of Bright Stars Clues to finding this constellation in the sky.
1.
      
2.
      
3.
      
4.
      
5.
      
6.
      

4. Using a star finder try to find North. Can you explain to your friend how to do it?

7. Using a star finder, can you figure out which constellations will appear in each season?

Season Constellations
Spring  
Summer  
Fall  
Winter  

Star Brightness ....

Watch the stars "come out" in the evening after the sun sets. What do you notice about how many stars you can see compared to how 'dark' the sky appears? ____________________________

Using the tool auto aperture in HOU image processing, choose 3 different stars and compare the brightness of each. Which was the brightest? ______________ 

Image Name_____________
X, Y position of the star on the image. Brightness Counts for each star.
Star 1  
Star 2  
Star 3  

Now find many stars and their brightness counts by using an image analysis tool called 'FIND'.

Do the Pleiades Star Brightness activity using HOU IP.

What does "star magnitude" mean? ___________________________________

Model the magnitude system used by astronomers to classify star brightness.

_________________________________________________________

Star Color....

Do you see differences in the color of stars when you look in the night sky?

Look at color photographs of the stars. Do you notice any differences in star colors?

Experiment with filters to see how they block colors or let colors pass through.

Look at a red object with three different filters.

How does red look through a red filter? ______________

through a green filter?______________ through a blue filter? ______________

Look at a green object with three different filters. Look at a blue object with three different filters.

What can you say about filters and colored objects?

_________________________________________________________________

When an astronomer uses a filter on a telescope, what color of a star's light will be seen on the image of the star?

_________________________________________________________________

Moon Activities....

Learn about the physical features of the moon, the phases of the moon, and the history of exploration of the moon by people.

Put together a computer moon puzzle. Print a copy to show to your friends!

Study the telescope images of the surface of the moon. Describe how the moon's surface looks. Print out these images to make a collage of the first quarter moon. 
 

 

What are some of the names of moon craters, mares, valleys and mountain ranges? 
 

Study moon phases. (You can work with your Girl Scout troop. Each person can overlap telescope images to create one of the moon's phases).

Near which day of the moon cycle does the full moon appear?  
About how many weeks are there from new moon to full moon?  
How long do you think it will take for the full moon to become new?  

Where and when did the astronauts first land on the moon?  

Where? When?
   

Measure places on the moon. Staple your HOU computer worksheet to this page.

**  Top of Page **  Star Finder **  Star Brightness **  Star Color ** Moon **

** Girl Scouts Sky Search Badge** Hands-On Universe **

This page was updated by Patricia Quay Pieniazek, quay_pieniazek@orbit.adler.uchicago.edu. February 4, 1998.