Want to know more about the basics of astronomy? Learn how to orient yourself in the night sky for beginning astronomy, starting with the cardinal directions and moving through the concepts of the meridian, zenith, ecliptic, celestial sphere, celestial equator, and celestial pole - all in a friendly, easy-to-understand presentation.
Want to know more about the basics of astronomy? For beginning astronomy, learn about magnitudes (brightness differences of objects) in the night sky. This video discusses visual magnitude from the Sun through the 11th magnitude, explaining the scale's logarithmic method of calculating brightness, plus the concepts of absolute magnitude, integrated magnitude, and surface brightness—all in a friendly, easy-to-understand presentation.
Want to know more about the basics of astronomy? Learn how to measure distance in the night sky, starting with the full sky and horizon-to-zenith concepts, and then discussing how to measure smaller distances in the sky with just your hand and outstretched arm. After viewing you should easily be able to find dimmer objects from brighter stars in the sky after consulting a current star chart.