newestskypuppy

After several months of hard work and determination, Matthew completed all of the requirements set forth by the Astronomical League to be certified as a Sky Puppy. To receive consideration for certification Matthew followed the following criteria (copied and pasted from Sky Puppy Manual).

Sky Puppy Projects:

Must draw by freehand 15 constellation patterns (with or without

stick-figures and not necessarily from memory)

Without aids or assistance, must be able to positively identify in the

night sky the same 15 constellations

Must be able to identify and briefly describe any major stars or

naked-eye objects in each constellation (i.e. "Betelgeuse is a red

super-giant star", or, "that fuzzy patch is the Andromeda galaxy")

Must be able to tell 2 different traditional constellation stories from a cultural tradition of the child's choice.

Must be able to use binoculars to locate and identify 5 deep-space

objects from this list suited to binocular observing.

          • M42, the Orion nebula

          • M31, the Andromeda galaxy

          • Albireo, a double star in Cygnus

          • The large and/or small Magellanic Clouds

          • The Pleiades

          • The Hyades

          • a Globular cluster

          • The Beehive

        1. Must be able to identify and describe the Milky Way

        2. Must be able to find the North Star (or the Southern Cross)

            1. Must keep a log of all observations. Each entry must provide object,

            2. date, naked-eye or binocular, and notes.

        3. Must draw a rough sketch of one of the following:

          • Jupiter with as many of the 4 Galilean moons as you can see

          • The sun with sunspots

          • A crater on the moon

Unless otherwise specified, all images included in this web page were taken by Tom or Matthew Connor and are the property of the same.