POWERHOUSE 2024 Australasian Sky User Guide

User Guide
2024 AUSTRALASIAN SKY GUIDE

TEACHERS NOTES

Prepared by Geoffrey Wyatt and Dr Nick Lomb
The annual Australasian Sky Guide, authored by Dr Nick Lomb and co-published by Powerhouse Publishing and NewSouth Publishing, affords teachers and students many opportunities to explore the sky while engaging with topics on the Australian Curriculum.
Humanity has a universal fascination with looking at the sky. During the day, the seasonal changes, as indicated by the length of shadows, the path of the Sun as seen by rise and set positions, and its gradual change in height and time in the sky, are just some of the things we can observe, study and wonder about.
At night, the dance of the Moon and the planets against the backdrop of stars hints at a complex system that has challenged observers for thousands of years.
How many have noticed the Moon during daylight? By simply looking up, we can see the changes in the sky from one day to the next. Some of the things we see are quite easy to explain, while others require a little more thought and some are still a mystery.
Working scientifically is about collecting data, checking it, and using it. Observations of the natural environment have helped cultures from around the world recognise patterns used to mark the passage of time. Thousands of years ago, Egyptians calculated the length of the sidereal year to within a few minutes by observing the star Sirius. And for tens of thousands of years, First Nations peoples, in Australia and around the world, have used the stars to prepare for the changing seasons, for navigation and for sourcing food.
Australian Curriculum strands Science Understanding, Science Inquiry Skills, and Science as a Human Endeavour, along with the topic Earth and Space Sciences, can make use of the Sky Guide, as teachers help students develop an interest in science.
Stage 1: Students describe daily and seasonal changes in the environment and explore how these changes affect everyday life (AC9S1U02). Pose and respond to questions and make predictions about familiar objects and events (ACSIS024).
Students learn to recognise Earth is a planet in the Solar System and identify patterns in the changing position of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars in the sky (AC9S2U01). Pose and respond to questions and make predictions about familiar objects and events (ACSIS037).
Stage 3: Students describe the movement of Earth and other planets relative to the Sun and model how Earth’s tilt, rotation on its axis and revolution around the Sun relate to cyclic observable phenomena, including variable lengths of day and night (AC9S6U02). With guidance, pose clarifying questions and make predictions about scientific investigations (ACSIS232). Identify, plan and apply the elements of scientific investigations to answer questions and solve problems, using equipment and materials safely and identifying potential risks (ACSIS103).
Stage 4: Students model cyclic changes in the relative positions of Earth, the Sun and Moon, and explain how these cycles cause eclipses and influence predictable phenomena on Earth, including seasons and tides (AC9S7U03). Identify questions and problems that can be investigated scientifically and make predictions based on scientific knowledge (ACSIS124). Collaboratively and individually plan and conduct a range of investigation types, including fieldwork and experiments, ensuring safety and ethical guidelines are followed (ACSIS125).
Stage 5: Students describe how the big bang theory models the origin and evolution of the Universe and analyse the supporting evidence for the theory (AC9S10U03). Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS198). Plan, select and use appropriate investigation types, including field work and laboratory experimentation, to collect reliable data; assess risks and address ethical issues associated with these methods (ACSIS199). Scientific understanding, including models and theories, is contestable and is refined over time through a process of review by the scientific community (ACSHE191); advances in scientific understanding often rely on technological upgrades and are frequently linked to scientific discoveries (ACSHE 192).
The activities listed below help students think and wonder about our place in the universe. Some may be used across different Stages.

STAGE 1 (Years 1 and 2)
Science Understanding, Earth and Space Sciences: Changes in the Sky
— Look and think about what you can see in the sky. Make a list of all the things you can see and think about when you see them. Is the list the same day to day and month to month?
— What things change day to day and month to month? Describe as many changes in the sky as you can.
— Draw a picture of something you do at 7am and something you do at 7pm. How and why are they different?
— Describe what is being shown in the image below and try to explain the differences between the sides.
— How would you explain the difference between day and night to a younger child?
— Look up when the next New Moon will occur. Then, starting one day after the new Moon, go outside with an adult about 40–60 minutes after sunset each day, and repeat this at about the same time every evening for a week. Look up the phases of the Moon listed monthly in the Sky Guide and write the date of each New Moon in the table below.

— Draw or describe what you can see in the sky. Questions to think about:
– What colours can you see overhead, to the west and the east?
– How is the view different from what you can see at lunch time?
– Has anything changed from the same time last night?
– What is one thing you can see that makes you curious?— Measure the changing length and direction of a shadow. Once or twice a month, preferably around noon, use an upright stick or gnomon, placed on the same spot each time so it can cast a shadow, preferably onto a smooth surface. Make sure you have a clear view of the northern sky. Observe, measure and record how the shadow changes from one month to the next. Record and share the findings on a chart for the classroom wall. What do you expect the shadow to look like next month? After several months, describe the pattern you found, if any. Can you link the length of the shadow and the season?

— Use the Sky Guide to look up the monthly phases of the Moon. Choose a night near the first quarter Moon to look up at it. Observe, think and wonder:
– How does it make you feel when you look at it?
– What questions do you think about?
– Would you like to go to the Moon one day?
– What would you say to the world if you had been the first person to step onto the Moon in 1969?
Tip: While a telescope is not necessary to complete this activity, access to one would likely enhance students’ learning experience. See the More Resources section of the Sky Guide for a list of local astronomical societies or put a call out to friends and family.

STAGE 3 (Years 5 and 6)
Science Understanding, Earth and Space Sciences: The Earth is Part of a System
— Explain what the Solar System is and why it is unique, even though more than 5,000 other planets have now been found around other stars. — Use the Sky Guide to locate the planets, if any, that are visible tonight.
Explain to your family why you cannot see all the others, even though they are shown bunched together in Image 2.
— Look at Image 2 opposite, a drawing of our Solar System by NASA. How many observations about it can you make? Check against how many other people in your class can make.
What does it make you want to learn more about?
— With your classmates, use online calculators to try to make a scale model of our Solar System that fits within your classroom. Be sure to use just one scale for both size and distance. Hint: you might need a magnifying glass.

| If you make the Sun 10mm wide,
the size of each planet or dwarf planet will be …| Distance from the Sun (m)| If your Solar System has to fit
into a room or space 10m long, then each object will be …| Distance from the Sun (m)
---|---|---|---|---
The Sun (mm)| 10| N/A| 2.36| N/A
Mercury (mm)| 0.04| 0.42| 0.01| 0.1
Venus (mm)| 0.09| 0.78| 0.02| 0.18
Earth (mm)| 0.09| 1.07| 0.02| 0.25
Mars (mm)| 0.05| 1.64| 0.01| 0.39
Jupiter (mm)| 1| 5.59| 0.24| 1.32
Saturn (mm)| 0.84| 10.3| 0.2| 2.43
Uranus (mm)| 0.36| 20.61| 0.09| 4.86
Neptune (mm)| 0.35| 32.28| 0.08| 7.61
Pluto (mm)| 0.02| 42.41| 0.004| 10
Distance from the Sun to Pluto (m)| 42.41| | 10| N/A

— Look at Image 3 shown below. It is called Voyager 1’s Pale Blue Dot. The streak in the photograph is scattered light in Voyager 1’s camera. This is what the Earth looks like from 6 billion km away. Now, look at Image 2 again and explain why so many draw the Solar System this way. What suggestions can you make to show it without confusing everyone?
— If you have a favourite planet, use the Sky Guide to work out when will be the next best date to see it at about an hour after sunset. Try to explain why it changes throughout the year.
— When will this planet be high in the northeastern sky after sunset? This would be a good evening to visit an observatory and look through its telescopes. STAGE 4 (Years 7 and 8)
Science Inquiry Skills, Planning and Conducting
— Think about where you live, play and go to school. What do you call the area around where you live?
— What other suburbs can you recall? Name one that is close and one that is far away.
— Try to find two suburbs with the same name. What are they called and how do people avoid confusion?
— Use online and paper-based maps to identify your school and other nearby points of interest.
— Now think about the night sky. Look at Image 4 above.
— How might you break it into sky suburbs and why would we want to do that?
— Consider Image 5 above. What has been done to it that reminds you of the maps you looked at for your suburb? Think about the things that are similar and the things that are different. What would you add to a star map like this?
— Search the Powerhouse Collection online (collection.powerhouse.com.au) for old star maps, like Image 6 shown below. — What time of year is the constellation Virgo seen in the evening sky?
— Discuss why you think old star maps include elaborate drawings like this.
— Try to create your own image based on the one shown at left. Use it to:
– Remember the position of the main stars
– Tell stories that children or your classmates will remember
– Incorporate some social ideas or laws
– Relate to an event that is tied to a calendar.
Hint: photocopy a larger scale star map from the 2024 Australasian Sky Guide. Note that Virgo is high in the north on the July map.

Science Understanding, Earth and Space Sciences: Predictable Phenomena
— Use the Sky Guide to look up the date of the next Full Moon. On the day before Full Moon, record the time it rises over your local horizon. It doesn’t matter if it rises over the ocean, a distant hill or the roof of a neighbouring house as long as it’s seen from the same place each day. Weather permitting, repeat over the next few nights and determine the interval between successive moonrises. Is it exactly 24 hours?
If not, research why not.
— Very carefully record the time when a particular bright star rises over your horizon. Use something well defined, like your neighbour’s roof, or a street post, sign, distant building or tree on the horizon. Repeat over the next few nights, from the exact same location, and determine the interval between successive times the star rises. Is it exactly 24 hours? If not, research why not.
— Carefully examine the monthly star charts in the Sky Guide. Everything you see in the night sky other than the Moon, planets, occasional comets and satellites is beyond our Solar System. Over summer, away from towns and cities on moonless nights, there are two large objects visible in the night sky. What
are they, how big are they and how far away are they? Hint: They are named after the first person to circumnavigate the world.
— What constellation is high overhead in September around 7pm? It is home to a monstrous, supermassive black hole more than 4 million times the mass of the Sun. What can you find out about this bizarre object?
Science Inquiry Skills: Questioning and Predicting
— A Moon mystery: Many people think the Moon is much bigger when it rises. Is this true and how can you test it?
— Solving the mystery:
– Use the Sky Guide to look for the next Full Moon.
– Find a rigid, clear piece of plastic and a marker.
– Go to a place with a clear view to the east and wait for the Moon to rise.
– As soon as you can see all of the Moon, hold the plastic in front of you at arm’s length. With the marker, draw two lines on the plastic that just touch the Moon across its width.
– Go back inside and read some poetry about the Moon for between two and three hours.
– Return to the same spot and with the plastic and its marks, check the apparent width of the Moon.
Did it get smaller, as most people think, larger, or stay the same?
– Why do you think so many people think the Moon looks so big as it rises? Research what scientists say about the ‘Moon illusion’ (you might start by looking it up in the Sky Guide glossary).

STAGE 5 (Years 9 and 10)
Science Understanding: Earth and Space Sciences
— Looking beyond our Solar System:
– Examine the sky chart for the current month.
– Identify three prominent stars and research their main characteristics. What do they have in common, how are they different?
– Examine one Zodiac and one non-Zodiac constellation for the current month. What objects beyond the
Solar System do they contain?
– What are the two nearby galaxies marked in the Sky Guide that can be seen with the naked eye? What is the best month to see them at around midnight?
Science as a Human Endeavour: Nature and Development of Science
— Observations about the rise and set of the Sun, Moon and stars seem to support the pre-Copernican geocentric model of the universe.
– Using the Sky Guide, find a good month this year to see the bright planet Jupiter at a convenient time in the evening.
– What would you see when looking at it through a telescope?
– How would that show that the geocentric model is wrong? ALL STAGES: Different viewpoints
— Ask your classmates if their family has stories about the sky from other countries or cultures.
— Read the First Nations Astronomy essay at the start of the annual Australasian Sky Guide.
— Contact your local Indigenous Land Council and ask if you can arrange a visit from a local Elder to share stories of the sky.
— Write a farewell letter to Pluto explaining why astronomers, including Dr Nick Lomb at Sydney Observatory, voted to demote it from planet status in 2006.
Places to go
— Organise an evening with your family or at school to gather and watch the Full Moon rise over the distant horizon. The best view occurs when the Moon rises no more than 15 minutes after sunset. Use the Sky Guide to find out when this will happen next. Things to think about:
– Why does it look so blurry when it rises?
– Why does the colour change as it rises?
– Why doesn’t a lunar eclipse happen every month?
– Research when the next lunar eclipse will happen for you.
– Visit your local public observatory, such as Sydney Observatory, an astronomical society or a planetarium.
Challenges
— Thinking about seasons:
– What are they and why does Australia change seasons on the first of the month?
– When do other countries change and what are the markers in the sky that nations use to change seasons?
– What is the reason for the seasons? See Image 7 above.
— Throughout each month, we see different amounts, or phases, of the Moon. Why does the view change?
See Image 8 above.
— Look at the Moon when it is at the ‘first quarter’ phase (look up in the Sky Guide) and try to explain why
we call it first quarter when we can see half of the disc.

Myth busting
— There are many myths about the things we see in the sky. Here are some. Try to explain why they are myths and why so many people believe them.
— The Moon does not rotate: Make a model of the motion of the Earth and the Moon with someone representing the Moon walking around a person representing the Earth. What happens if the Moon person always faces in the same direction, such as the wall of the classroom, while they walk? What do they have to do so that they always face the Earth person?
— The Moon has a dark side: This idea, made famous in songs and popular culture, is wrong. Explain why there is no permanent dark side. Extending the Moon-Earth model above, have a third person holding a torch shining towards the Earth person to represent the Sun. As the Moon person walks around, always facing the Earth, is their face always in shadow or do they move in and out of the shadow during a circuit?
— People have described seeing the ‘evening star’ (actually the planet Venus) next to the Full Moon. Use the Sky Guide to examine if this occurs during the year and try to explain why it cannot.

ISBN: 9881742238142
RRP: $24.99
Purchase the 2024 Australasian Sky Guide
shop.powerhouse.com.au/products/2024-australasian-sky- guide
Plan and book a visit to Sydney Observatory
powerhouse.com.au/visit/sydney-observatory

References

• Powerhouse Collection
• Powerhouse Museum - Sydney Observatory
• 2024 Australasian Sky Guide — Powerhouse Shop

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