I couldn't find the Big or Little Dipper!

[RoJoHen]

I was at my friend's house over the weekend. He lives out in the country and has an amazing view of the night sky. We had been drinking, and he kept insisting that a random group of stars was the Little Dipper. I, having seen the Dippers many times, knew immediately that he was wrong. First of all, the North Star was nowhere around, and there was no Big Dipper around it.

In order to prove him wrong, I attempted to find the real Little Dipper. I searched and searched, but I couldn't find it! Even after he went to bed, I stood outside and stared at the sky trying to find the Dippers. I was growing very concerned and frustrated (mostly because of the beer) because I knew the Dippers were visible all year round.

I think it may have been because there was so little light pollution that I was just seeing way too many stars. The Dippers stand out when you can't see anything else, but when you can see thousands and thousands of stars, it doesn't stick out as much.

Earlier than night, I drunkenly attempted to explain the life cycle of stars, but my friend was not understanding it.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Did he not understand the life cycle of stars because you were too drunk, he was too drunk, or he's just not very bright?

I mean, the life cycle of stars is something I grasped the gist of when I was like, 8.

 

[Amaris]

I was at my friend's house over the weekend. He lives out in the country and has an amazing view of the night sky. We had been drinking, and he kept insisting that a random group of stars was the Little Dipper. I, having seen the Dippers many times, knew immediately that he was wrong. First of all, the North Star was nowhere around, and there was no Big Dipper around it.

In order to prove him wrong, I attempted to find the real Little Dipper. I searched and searched, but I couldn't find it! Even after he went to bed, I stood outside and stared at the sky trying to find the Dippers. I was growing very concerned and frustrated (mostly because of the beer) because I knew the Dippers were visible all year round.

I think it may have been because there was so little light pollution that I was just seeing way too many stars. The Dippers stand out when you can't see anything else, but when you can see thousands and thousands of stars, it doesn't stick out as much.

Earlier than night, I drunkenly attempted to explain the life cycle of stars, but my friend was not understanding it.

It was the one in the middle.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Are you in the southern hemisphere at the moment? That might explain it. If you are down under (and I'm pretty sure you are not), try finding the Southern Cross instead - that's a lot more difficult under the influence of alcohol.

 

[RoJoHen]

Did he not understand the life cycle of stars because you were too drunk, he was too drunk, or he's just not very bright?

I mean, the life cycle of stars is something I grasped the gist of when I was like, 8.

He seemed to not really know anything about stars or space in general. He's actually a really smart guy, so I was surprised at how ignorant he was on the topic. Some of the stuff he was saying just blew my mind because of how wrong he was.

Are you in the southern hemisphere at the moment? That might explain it.

Nope, definitely northern hemisphere. I have no idea where they were. I never found them.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Almost certainly the alcohol to blame. Sober I can recognise the Big Dipper even if only partially visible. For example, in the well-known Windows Vista wallpaper of the Aurora Borealis, just the handle is on right-hand side. The head of Draco is roughly top centre, and Vega, Lyra, and Hercules are over to the left. However, just a few beers and my pattern recognition skills are severely impaired.

 

[RoJoHen]

That's what I'm sayin! Normally I can spot the Big Dipper without even looking for it. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

I blame the fact that I wasn't wearing my glasses. I mean, I rarely wear my glasses, but the alcohol was definitely blurring my vision a bit.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

If I'm reading my star globe correctly, the big dipper should be almost due north and about 30° above the horizon at midnight to 2am this time of year - assuming your latitude is about 40° north. Cassiopeia and Cepheus should be almost overhead.

 

[RoJoHen]

I thought that I saw Cassiopeia. That was about the only constellation I could make out. I also think I saw Venus or Jupiter (not sure if either of those are visible right now, but I think I did).

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Possibly Jupiter as it's in Aires at the moment, Mars is in Gemini, and Venus in Virgo. I don't think Venus would be visible as it's probably too close in the sky to the Sun and is on the opposite side anyway.

http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/#findplanet
http://www.physics.sfasu.edu/astro/Planets/planetchart.html

 

[Alpha_Geek]

HOW-TO: Find Ursa Minor, aka The Little Dipper-

Verify you are in the northern hemisphere.

Find the latitude of your current location.

Verify it is dark outside.

Assure no clouds obscure your northerly view.

Look exactly due North (true. Magnetic compasses can and do lie. Damn magnetic deviance!).

Look above the horizon at an angle that matches your current latitude.

Polaris is there. It's the tip of the tail, the end of the handle, etc.


Cheaterbaby method if an old big satellite dish is nearby: The main bearings or support tube on most of the bigger domestic C band dishes will line up directly at Polaris. Site along it.

 

[RoJoHen]

I know all these things! That's why I was so confused when I couldn't find it. I thought maybe the stars were going out!

Although, truth be told, I am terrible with cardinal directions, so without the North Star visible in the sky, I couldn't even begin to tell you which way was north.

 

[scotpens]

Possibly Jupiter as it's in Aires at the moment, Mars is in Gemini, and Venus in Virgo.

When the moon is in the seventh house
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars.

Or maybe the world will end. Whatever.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Goddamn hippy.

 

[Silvercrest]

One time in the Army, I was in a crash course on land-navigation and the sergeant teaching the course explained about finding north with the North Star. Being a stinker, I immediately asked, "But what if you're in the Southern Hemisphere?" and it froze him up. He had no idea.

Actually that was after he tried saying you should be able to see the North Star anyway. I shot him down by holding up a ball. "Look, the North Star is here on this side of the ball, and you're over here on this side. You've got the body of the ball between you and the star. How can you possibly see it?"

I don't remember his reply, but it was probably something like "Drop and give me twenty." I didn't do real well in the Army.

 

[RoJoHen]

Hmm...do people in the Southern Hemisphere have any kind of landmark like that to help them find their way?

 

[Silvercrest]

Asbo said it. You find the Southern Cross instead.

I don't remember if I knew that at the time, but I wouldn't have volunteered it anyway. It was more fun to watch the instructor squirm.

 

[RoJoHen]

Oh, that's right. I probably would have kept my mouth shut in your case, but it would have bothered the hell out of me.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Crux Australis is about it. There is no well defined south pole star - the closest is Sigma Octans, but it's magnitude 5.6 and barely visible to the naked eye. It is probably more prominent on the flag of Brazil.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Octans_01.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Brazil#Stars

 

[Kai Winn]

The Big Dipper is visible all night only above 40 degrees north, the further south, the longer it's below the horizon. Both Dipper and Cross are visible in the belt between 25 degrees north and south of the equator.