CanadianCanadianSkies

www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/student-science-tech

Trifid Nebula

Aurora Borealis Also known as the Northern Lights, the aurorae

that dance in Canadian skies vary from green

to white and red. These spectacular displays

are created when electrically-charged solar

particles trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field

collide with the upper atmosphere, causing it

to glow like a neon lamp.

Star Trails & Gemini SouthLocated in Chile, this optical

telescope, a multi-national

effort, produces some of the

sharpest views of the universe.

In the background, circular star

trails resulting from the Earth’s

rotation were captured by long

exposure photography.

Edge-on Spiral GalaxyLocated about 30 million light years away, this large spiral

galaxy, NGC 4565, consisting of billions of stars, is seen

from the side. It is spiral in shape like our own Milky Way,

which in dark skies we see as a band of faint light.

Horsehead Nebula

Milky Way Vista

Courtesy of Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum

Courtesy of Canadian Galactic Plane Survey

Courtesy of Terence Dickinson, Eastern Ontario

Courtesy of Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum

Courtesy of Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum

Courtesy of Gemini Observatory/AURA

Courtesy of Gemini Observatory/AURA

Comet Hale-Bopp

The Horsehead is part of a gigantic cloud of molecular

gas and dust, a star-forming region only 1,500 light

years away in the constellation Orion. The light from

young, hot blue stars reflects off the dust particles

in the denser areas of the cloud to create the

silhouette effect.

This brilliant ‘hairy star’ passed through Canadian

skies in Spring, 1997. Like all comets, it displayed

both a white dust tail and a blue gas tail that pointed

away from the Sun. The tails extended up to

100 million km from its nucleus.

This image, created from radio waves, shows

clumps and filaments of cold hydrogen gas

silhouetted against the hotter hydrogen.

The origin of these clouds is still a mystery,

but they may be the first step in converting

cold interstellar gas to new stars.

Observation of this beautiful nebula was

recommended by a 13 year old Canadian girl.

Located in the constellation Sagittarius, the

Trifid is a dynamic cloud of gas and dust where

stars are being born. One massive star in this

nebula was born about 100,000 years ago.

The background image of

this poster features a portion of

the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies about

70 million light years away. This cluster

contains more than 2000 galaxies, including

giant ellipticals, spirals – some like our Milky Way –

and irregulars lacking any obvious organizational structure.

Courtesy of Jack Newton, BC

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INTRODUCTION

Canadian Skies has been designed to foster a greater under-

standing of astronomy and an appreciation for some of the

pioneering work of Canadian astronomers. This resource is

intended to help teachers and students explore various

astronomy concepts. The star chart on the front of this poster

is a tool for identifying the stars and constellations over the

Northern Hemisphere throughout the year. Activities have

been designed to complement the poster content and

promote student inquiry. This teaching unit conforms to

the Common Framework of Science Learning Outcomes

developed by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.

The various sections are recommended for Grades 6 to 11.

Applicable Curriculum Areas include:

Science- Earth and Space Science, Physical Sciences, Optics

History, Geography, Language Arts, Visual Arts

Students at all levels will:

a. Initiate and plan experiments; formulate ideas and theses;

and evaluate information, processes and instrumentation.

b. Perform experiments and record data using instruments

effectively, and use other resources such as the Library and

the Internet.

c. Analyze and interpret data, scientific terms and systems;

assess existing scientific models.

d. Communicate and work in teams to gather and share infor-

mation to maximize the advancement in knowledge gained

while completing this teaching unit.

WHAT IS ASTRONOMY?

Astronomers are devoted to answering questions about the

physical universe such as "What makes the stars shine?" or "How

do black holes form?" or " Is there life on other planets?" or "Why

is 90% of the matter in the universe invisible?" Astronomers

search for clues to help solve mysteries, and thereby improve our

understanding of nature. Like successful detectives, astronomers

use logic, imagination and intuition in solving problems and they

have a lot of fun doing so. When they publish their ideas, other

astronomers test them carefully to be sure they are correct.

Astronomers must have special training and access to

advanced technology. To succeed, professional astronomers

not only require an understanding of physics and math, but

often need particular knowledge of computer science and/or

engineering.

Astronomers differ from most other scientists in that they

cannot touch the objects they study because everything is so

distant; that is, by and large, astronomy is an observational,

rather than an experimental, science.

ASTRONOMICAL TOOLS

Electromagnetic Spectrum: Window on the Universe

Astronomers rely on electromagnetic radiation detected by

different types of telescopes to determine the location, com-

position, temperature, motions and magnetism of celestial

objects. Electromagnetic radiation travels in the form of waves

at the speed of light (299 792 km/sec) through space.

Electromagnetic waves range from very low frequency radio

waves through infrared radiation and visible light to ultravio-

let radiation, x-rays and finally, high frequency gamma rays.

Together, these waves form the electromagnetic spectrum.

Electromagnetic waves are characterized by their frequency

and wavelength which are inversely related: the greater the

wave’s frequency, the shorter the wavelength.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Sundial Activity: Create a simple sundial by using a board or boxapproximately 25 cm high. Set it up on a flat surface in a sunnylocation outside so that one corner always points North. Attacha large piece of paper to the north corner and position it west -east. The size of the paper should be twice the height of the boxor board. Mark the points where the north and south corner siton the paper. Each day, mark the shadow of the tip of the northcorner at the following times: 8 a.m., 12 Noon, and 4 p.m.Record the time of the observation beside the marked shadow.At the end of each day, draw a smooth, curved line through thethree points. Are the shadow marks always the same? If not, howdoes each day’s shadow differ from the previous day?

Motions in the Sky: Note the time that the Sun disappearsbelow the horizon. Return to the site an hour later, and drawthe positions of three bright stars. Repeat this every few days forthree weeks. Compare your drawings. Are they all the same?Are the stars in the same position each night one hour aftersunset? Share your observations with the class. This may bedone as a group activity. Hint: it is important to identify aprominent landmark for comparison and to return to the samespot each evening to make your observations.

Phases of the Moon: Three students can recreate the phases ofthe Moon. One student who represents the Sun should hold aflashlight so that it is stable. Make certain the light shines onboth of the other students who represent the Earth and theMoon. By moving the Moon student around the Earth student,recreate each of the lunar phases. Were there any surprises?Chart the experiment showing the phases of the Moon.

Northern Lights: What are the Northern Lights, or the AuroraBorealis, shown on this poster? Do you need a telescope to seethem? What causes this phenomenon? Is it possible to detectshapes and colours in the Northern Lights? If you are luckyenough to spot the Aurora Borealis, draw them. Or better yet,can you photograph them? Add an Aurora Borealis page to anexisting Web site and describe your experience in viewing these spectacular displays. Research what causes this pheno -menon? Write a short report to accompany your illustration or photograph.

Invent an Alien: To do this, you must research a planet’s natural environment—temperature, atmosphere, water supply,soil composition, etc. Include a description that explains howand why your alien can live on the planet you’ve selected.

SKY MEASUREMENTS

The apparent distance between stars and star groupings is mea-sured in degrees (360 degrees in a circle). Note that this isn’tthe actual distance, but a method for locating the stars in the

sky. It is a simple system and involves holding up a hand to thesky. At arm’s length, one finger equals 1 degree approximately.Three fingers equals 5 degrees; a closed fist is 10 degrees; thedistance between the extended pinky finger and the forefingeris 15 degrees; the distance between the extended pinky and thethumb is 25 degrees. Now locate the Big Dipper in the sky.Using the system of measurement just described, measure:

� The number of degrees of the width of the basin or bowl ofthe Big Dipper.

� The number of degrees from the front of the Big Dipper to the tip of its handle.

� The length of its bowl. Record these notations on a chart. How many degrees is Polarisfrom the bowl of the Big Dipper?

THE PLANISPHERE: Special Student ActivityThere are approximately 6000 stars in the night sky that can beseen with the naked eye. Not all are visible at the same time.Many of the brightest stars may be recognized as parts of con-stellations. Ancient peoples identified mythical creatures in thepatterns formed by groups of stars, which is how many of theconstellations came to be named. To find out which stars andconstellations are visible at any time during the year, you needto use the star chart as well as to create your own planisphere.

1. See Figures A and B. Photocopy each.

2. Figure A is a smaller version of the star chart on the front of

the poster. Cut out the circular star chart and glue it to a piece

of cardboard.

3. Figure B is a guide that will enable you to view the stars and

constellations in the sky based on the time of day. Cut out the

oval where indicated and fold the flaps down.

4. Slide the star chart into the flaps.

5. To determine which stars and constellations are visible on any

given day or month, simply rotate the star chart disc to that date and

time. What appears in the oval is what you will see in the night sky.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Use the planisphere throughout the year to chart the stars andconstellations visible in the night sky each season. Make a list ofall the constellations and stars that should be visible on select-ed days according to the star chart. Compare that list to thestars and constellations you are actually able to see. Were youable to see them all? If not, why not? List the factors that mayhave affected a particular viewing of the night sky.

For more information, visit:www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/student-science-tech

and to order additional copies, visit: www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/education/teachers/order.html

Gemini 8-m Telescopes� Gemini is an international partnershipof the US, UK, Canada, Chile, Australia,Argentina and Brazil.

� An optical telescope in each hemi-sphere allows astronomers to study theentire sky. Gemini North (Mauna Kea)began science operations in 2000, withGemini South (Cerro Pachón) coming

online the following year.

� The telescopes are designed to give exquisitely sharpimages. Canada is providing sensitive equipment that will helpGemini users make many exciting scientific discoveries.

Canada-France-Hawaii 3.6-mTelescope (CFHT)� An optical telescope, CFHT,began operating in 1979 as a part-nership between Canada, Franceand the University of Hawaii.

� CFHT pioneered techniques, including "adaptive optics", toremove the twinkle from stars caused by the continual motionsof the Earth's atmosphere, thus making CFHT renowned forvery sharp images.

� For Canadian astronomers, CFHT has played critical rolesin their studies of massive black holes in the centres of galaxies,the evolution of stars, and in demonstrating that the universewill expand forever.

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory(NRC-DAO) Telescopes� NRC operates two optical telescopeslocated on 230-m high Observatory Hill,17 km north of Victoria, B.C.

� With continual upgrading, the 1.8-mPlaskett Telescope (1918) remains highly

productive. It was used during the first two decades of its life tomeasure accurately the size and mass of the Milky Way galaxy.Visitors have the opportunity to experience this telescope inoperation through The Centre of the Universe programs.

� The 1.2-m McKellar Telescope (1962) is used for precisionanalyses of the properties of stars and pioneered developmentof techniques to find planets around nearby stars.

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope(JCMT)� This 15-m telescope on Mauna Kea is apartnership between the UK, Canada andthe Netherlands.

� Since its opening in 1987, the JCMTradio telescope has probed the interstellar

medium, star forming regions, and the earliest phases of galaxyevolution, by studying their microwave radiation.

� JCMT astronomers detected complex molecules in CometHale-Bopp (1997) that had never before been seen in a comet.

Dominion Radio AstrophysicalObservatory (NRC-DRAO) Telescopes� Located near Penticton, B.C., NRC-DRAO operates a seven-antenna radio telescope that is mapping large parts of theplane of the Milky Way galaxy (see over) tostudy how the interstellar gas changes fromstellar birth to stellar death.

� A 26-m diameter radio telescope is used alone (for example,to study pulsars), or is often used in conjunction with the seven-antenna telescope to provide more complete maps of theMilky Way.

� A small radio telescope maintains daily records (dating backto 1946) of radio radiation from the Sun. These data are usedworldwide for studying solar-terrestrial relationships such aslong term climate change or predicting disturbances of power andcommunications caused by storms on the Sun.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

1. How do you become an astronomer? What qualifications and

education do you need? Research the profession and write a

profile. List the different branches of astronomy and name five

places where astronomers work.

2. Draw a detailed diagram of an optical telescope and describe

how it works. Hint: see the explanation on this poster.

3. Research five contributions that Canadians have made to the

field of astronomy. Hint: see www.cascaeducation.ca.

4. Ordinarily we think telescopes are used to magnify distant

things, but astronomers think of them differently and continu-

ally seek to build bigger ones. Do you know why? Hint: The pupil of your eye is about 1 cm in diametre. Compareits area ("light gathering power") to the area of the primarymirror of a Gemini telescope.

5. Draw a detailed diagram of a radio telescope. Describe the

history of its development and how it works.

6. Use the Internet to research images of stars, constellations

and planets. Write a short description of the images you have

found, and indicate what type of telescope was used to make

them. You may print these images and create a poster or a Web

page with accompanying descriptive text.

7. How has astronomy advanced technologically over the past

100 years? Describe the major technological breakthroughs.

Detail what impact they have had on this branch of science.

Telescopes: Essential Tools for AstronomersTelescopes provide the means to collect and analyze electro-magnetic radiation from distant realms of the universe.Different types of telescopes are used for distinct regions of thespectrum such as visible light, near infrared, microwaves, andradio waves. Planets, stars, gaseous nebulae, and distant galax-ies appear differently when "viewed" in each region of the spec-trum. This is because various types of radiation are sensitive to

differences in the temperature and chemistry of the objects.Even the fact that an object can be readily detected by a partic-ular wavelength gives the astronomer important clues, such aswhether it is hot or cold.

There are different categories of telescopes: optical tele-scopes collect visible light, but other telescopes, for exampleradio telescopes, can collect radiation invisible to the humaneye. Since Galileo pioneered the use of the optical telescope inthe 17th century, increasingly more powerful instruments havebeen developed, including the Hubble Space Telescope andthe new Gemini Telescopes. In 1932, Jansky invented radiotelescopes, which have developed into facilities like the JamesClerk Maxwell Telescope.

The basic way telescopes work is largely independent of theregion of the electromagnetic spectrum. A device such as a lens,mirror or antenna collects the radiation and focuses it onto adetector. Optical telescopes use special versions of the charge-coupled devices found in video cameras, while radio telescopesuse specialized receivers like those in radios or TV sets. Pleaserefer to Figures 1 and 2 above.

Optical Telescopes: Reflecting and RefractingThe term refraction refers to the bending of light. Refractingtelescopes employ a series of lenses to collect visible light. Mosttelescopes in use today are reflecting because bigger telescopescan be built with mirrors than with lenses. Reflecting tele-scopes have a concave primary mirror, normally parabolic inshape and located at the lower end of the telescope. It reflectsthe light of celestial objects to a focus. Rather than work at afocus high above the primary mirror, the light is often inter-cepted by a smaller mirror that reflects it down through a hole

in the primary mirror to an instrument, such as a camera or aspectrograph, for analysis.

Radio Telescopes: Collectors of Invisible RadiationAll objects in space emit radio waves, so a radio telescope canbe used to detect them. A large curved metal dish, or antennathat resembles a parabolic satellite TV dish, collects the radiowaves and reflects them to a focus point above the centre of the

dish. Here, a sensitive receiver converts them into an electricalsignal, which is interpreted by a computer. Radio telescopes"see" through clouds of dust that optical telescopes cannot penetrate. Together, radio and optical telescopes helpastronomers to build a more complete picture of a region ofspace. There are two types of radio telescopes—single antennaor multiple antenna (interferometer). Images are created byscanning a single-antenna telescope across the sky, or by lettingthe rotation of the Earth move a group of telescopes pointed atthe source of the radio wave emission. This scanning creates asequence of signals, coming from different parts of the source.A computer processes these signals to create a representativeimage of a celestial body.

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL FACILITIES

The National Research Council (NRC) provides telescopes forCanadian astronomers and their students to use for theirresearch. The largest facilities are international ones, locatedon the best sites in the northern (4200-m high Mauna Kea,Hawaii) and southern (2700-m high Cerro Pachón, Chile)hemispheres, where more than 300 nights a year offer clearviewing. NRC also operates radio and optical telescopes inBritish Columbia. Visitors are welcome at The Centre of theUniverse in B.C. The NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysicsdesigns and builds the sensitive instrumentation and writes software that enable the telescopes to detect signals from thefurthest realms of the universe. Astronomers must compete foraccess to telescopes and may spend only a few nights (or shifts)a year observing on any one telescope. Most of their researchtime is spent analyzing the data they obtain on those nights.

MOTIONS IN THE SKY

Everything in the universe is in constant motion.

Lunar Cycle

From the phases of the Moon, we are most familiar with the

monthly revolution, or orbit, of this natural satellite around

our planet. One lunar cycle takes 29 1/2 days to complete. A

"new" Moon is the point at which the Moon is between the

Earth and the Sun. The first quarter is approximately 7 days

into the cycle; a full moon occurs at 14 or 15 days; and the last

quarter falls at the 22 day point in the Moon’s orbit around

Earth. The timing of a number of celebrations in different reli-

gions, including Passover and Easter, are dependent on the

lunar cycle.

Do the Stars Move?

From the perspective of one on Earth, the sky as a whole

appears to be moving. The ‘apparent’ motion of the stars and

constellations is created by the spinning of the Earth on its axis

and the yearly orbit of the Earth around the Sun. In fact, the

Earth rotates on its axis from west to east once every 24 hours.

At different times of the night, a person at any one location on

the Earth views different sections of the sky. The Earth’s rota-

tion causes stars in the northern hemisphere to revolve slowly

from east to west around the north celestial pole near Polaris,

which remains virtually stationary. This motion of the stars can

be captured by anyone with a camera that takes time exposures.

The resulting star-trails will resemble those that are so promi-

nent in the Gemini Observatory photo on the front of our

poster.

The Earth’s annual orbit around the Sun, one Earth year or

365 1/4 days, results in dramatic changes in the stars visible

from any one point on the planet. As the position of the Earth

changes with the seasons, different constellations come into

view. For example, Orion is not visible from May through July,

but the circumpolar Big Dipper is visible year round although

its position changes in the sky. The planisphere activity on this

poster will allow teachers and students to determine the stars

and constellations that are visible at different times of the year

in most of Canada.

The Wanderers

The word planet is derived from Greek and means ‘wandering

star’. Thousands of years ago, humans were trying to decipher

what they saw in the sky. Known as the five wandering stars, the

planets intrigued early star gazers. They asked themselves what

propelled these celestial bodies across the sky. Today we know

that planets orbit the Sun on the ecliptic—the plane of the

Solar System—and cross over several constellations in the back-

ground, known as the Zodiac constellations. Five of the nine

planets in the solar system are visible to the naked eye: Mercury,

Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, all of them as bright as, and

often much brighter than, first magnitude stars. Uranus and

Neptune may be viewed with a good pair of binoculars. Only

Pluto requires the use of a 15-cm or larger telescope. Mercury

is rarely seen because its tight elliptical orbit keeps it close to

the Sun, and it is visible only for a few weeks of the year.

Interesting Fact: The position of the planets in the sky varies

throughout the year as they follow their individual orbits

around the Sun. The planets are not always visible, but peri-

odically you can observe what is known as a planetary conjunc-

tion when two or more planets align in the night sky. This is

particularly striking when the conjunction includes the Moon.

Comets

Known as ‘dirty snowballs’, comets are composed of ice thought

to be left over from the formation of the solar system. Those that

revolve around the Sun in elliptical paths sometimes take

hundreds, or thousands, of years to complete one orbit. As

a comet approaches the inner solar system, the Sun’s warmth

vaporizes (sublimates) the cometary ice. This creates a huge

cloud of gas and dust that is pushed back into a classic cometary

tail. There are actually two types of tails—a white dust tail and a

blue gas or plasma tail—which always point away from the Sun.

Comet Hale-Bopp, featured on the front of this poster, was

visible in Canadian skies during the spring of 1997.

Interesting Fact: The magnitude of stars refers to a system of

classifying stars according to their brightness. It is a scale that

runs from negative to positive values. Stars of the first magni-

tude are relatively bright objects in the night sky while the

naked eye cannot generally detect stars fainter than around

sixth magnitude. The brightest star in the night sky, Sirius in

the constellation Canis Major, has a magnitude of –1.5.

TIME AND SPACE

Astronomy seeks to answer intriguing questions about the uni-

verse and celestial objects. Both children and adults ponder

"How was the universe created?" and "How far away are the

stars?" In 1916, using mathematical models, Albert Einstein

postulated that the universe was expanding, although he had a

hard time believing it. Later, observations by Vesto and Edwin

Hubble confirmed that this was true. This led to the notion that

the universe had, at one time, been concentrated in one place,

then began to expand about 12-15 billion years ago. This event

is now referred to as the "Big Bang". Many astronomers are try-

ing to measure more accurately the age of the universe.

The Vastness of the Universe

When looking at space whether using the naked eye, binocu-

lars or a telescope, we are observing the past because it takes

so long for light from a distant object to travel to us even at a

speed of 299 792 km/sec. Earth’s Moon is some 400 000 kilo-

metres away, and it takes less than two seconds for the Moon’s

reflected light to reach the Earth. The light from the Sun

takes about 8 1/3 minutes to travel to Earth, while the light

from the next closest star takes 4 1/3 years to reach our plan-

et. Light from the nearest galaxy takes some 150 000 years.

Thus, the universe and space are staggeringly vast. Images

taken by the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed galaxies

that are about 5-10 billion light years away. The light reaching

us from these galaxies began the voyage across space before

the Sun and its planets, including Earth, even existed!

Origins of Stars and Galaxies

Astronomers believe that most stars are born inside cold, dark

molecular dust and gas clouds (see over). Such clouds are

found inside galaxies which are systems of immense size

containing literally billions of stars. And there are billions of

galaxies in the universe! Astronomers are puzzled by many

observations about galaxies. How were individual galaxies

created from the material that emerged from the Big Bang?

Why aren’t they uniformly spread across the sky? Do galaxies

look the same today as when they formed billions of years

ago? Why do we see only about 10% of the matter that

observations tell us must be present in galaxies?

Interesting Fact: We live inside a galaxy known as the Milky

Way. If we could travel for hundreds of thousands of years at

the speed of light and look back at the Milky Way, we would see

that it is a giant spiral disk about 90 000 light years in diametre,

containing several hundred billion stars. The oldest stars in

the Milky Way are thought to be some 12-15 billion years old.

Black Holes

When they run out of fuel, the most massive stars die and are

thought to leave behind black holes. They are extremely

dense, massive objects whose intense gravity prevents any

material, or even light, from escaping. These black holes may

be the precursors of much more massive ones found in the

centres of galaxies. The first evidence for smaller black holes

was found in our Milky Way and the nearby Magellanic

Clouds by Canadian astronomers who studied stars giving off

copious amounts of X-ray radiation. Supermassive black holes

are found in many galaxy centres and contain from a few mil-

lion to several billion times the mass of our Sun. In 1987, a

Canadian astronomer using the CFHT discovered evidence of

a massive black hole in the centre of the Andromeda galaxy.

Astronomers remain fascinated by the very existence of black

holes, because they can help to explain so many of the unusu-

al phenomena we see in the Universe. But if they are truly

‘black’ in the sense that no light escapes from them, how do

astronomers detect their existence at all? They use instru-

ments called spectrographs to study the motions of material

that is sped up as the black hole draws it in.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

1. Stars, constellations, galaxies and planets have interesting

names. Choose one of each and research the history of the

name. What is its significance? Give a detailed description.

2. Study the star chart on the front of this poster and select

5 constellations. Conduct your own backyard observations and

try to identify these constellations in the night sky. Over a period

of a week or two, keep a log and chart the stars, constellations

and planets you observe as well as the location of the Moon.

Present your findings to the rest of the class. List the equip-

ment used, and note dates and times carefully. This can be a

group activity or combined with the planisphere activity.

3. Write a story about reaching your favourite planet, star or

galaxy. What would you find there? Make the story as detailed

and imaginative as possible.

4. Research how two of the following are formed: planets,

comets, asteroids, stars, planetary nebulae, novae, supernovae,

black holes, spiral and elliptical galaxies. What instrumentation

has provided the information leading to these conclusions?

5. Build a scale model of the solar system, making it as accurate

as possible. The planets may be depicted as two-dimensional,

but for the more creative and ambitious, a three-dimensional

model is preferred. If feasible, a computer simulation may be

created using a 3D drawing / modeling program. Include an

explanation on how the model was put together.

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Lyra

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1. See Figures A and B. Photocopy each. Figure A is a replica of the star chart on the front of the poster. You may, if you wish, cut out a piece of cardboard and glue

the star chart to it. Figure B represents the guide that will enable you to view the stars and constellations in the sky based on the time of day. M

ake sure to cut out the oval where indicated and fold the flaps (also indicated) down. Slide the star chart into the flaps. To determ

ine which constellations and stars are visible on any given day or m

onth, simply rotate the star chart disc. W

hat appears in the oval is what you will see.

F O L D S I D E A N D B O T T O M F L A P S AT D O T T E D L I N E

T O H O L D T H E S TA R C H A R T I N T H E F L A P

FOLD SIDE AND BOTTOM FLAPS AT DOTTED LINE

TO HOLD THE STAR CHART IN THE FLAP

Con

seil

natio

nal

de r

eche

rche

s C

anad

aN

atio

nal R

esea

rch

Cou

ncil

Can

ada

ALT

ITU

DE

, K

ILO

ME

TR

ES

WAVELENGTH

200

100

50

25

12

6

3

Radio Waves

Micro-waves

Infrared

Ultr

avi

ole

t

Vis

ible

Lig

ht

X-Rays Gamma Rays

Far

Infr

are

d

First Quarter

Last Quarter

Waning Gibbous Waning Crescent

NewFull

Waxing Gibbous Waxing Crescent

FIGURE A

FIGURE B

objective lenseyepiece lens

Figure 1: Refracting Telescope Figure 2 : Cassegrain Reflecting Telescope

convex secondary mirror

Your Guide To The Stars

concave primary mirror

CANADIANSKIES