Views of the sky from the observation deck at Cerritos College
When students are learning how to find stars and constellations in the night sky, it is good to have an accurate representation of what the sky looks like. Star charts and planetarium programs are useful, but they do not simulate the view that you actually see. Additionally, it is helpful to have familiar cues along the horizon to give an observer an idea of where to look. This led me to taking my own pictures of the night sky toward each cardinal direction (north, east, south, and west) and overhead (the zenith) from the observation deck adjacent to the observatory on the roof of the MCIS building.
If you are taking the Astronomy Lab (ASTR 105L), you will likely need to learn how to recognize these stars and constellations as part of the requirements for the course. I hope that task is easier for you when you use these pictures as references. These stars and constellations will always appear in these locations for the month listed. The time is around 7 pm Pacific Time for the middle of the month, or shortly after it gets dark in months where they sky is still bright at 7 pm (mid-March through early October). If there is any variation from this, it will be noted on the pages for that month.
I use the following convention for the markings (annotations) in these images. An example of each annotation is shown.
- Names of stars are blue-green. If a star is particularly bright and easy to see, the
name of the star is underlined.
- Names of constellations are yellow, in all CAPITAL LETTERS, and are italicized and bold. Asterisms are not officially recognized constellations,
but familiar star groupings. These are in a regular font.
- The lines connecting the bright stars in a constellation are also in yellow. I do not draw all the lines, and they will appear different from how constellations are drawn on star charts. I am only including brighter stars that you have a chance of seeing from campus.
- Names of planets are in magenta and bold text. These images were taken during the 2023-24 academic year, and the planets will not
be in these locations if you are using these images in other years. Planets move or
wander through the background stars. Consult with your instructor or a planetarium program
to identify planets in other years.
I used my Nikon D5100 camera with a 16 mm wide field lens to record what the night sky looks like at various times throughout the year. I take at least 10 images in each direction so that I can average them together. This removes planes and satellites. I also chose times when the Moon was not visible so that it did not interfere. The Moon and planets will be visible in zodiac constellations. (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Scorpius, and Sagittarius are the zodiac constellations that can be seen from campus. Under very good conditions, Libra and Capricornus may be visible. Cancer, Aquarius, and Pisces are too faint. The 13th zodiac constellation, Ophiuchus, is visible during the summer months.) The images were adjusted to leave the stars that can be seen from the rooftop visible, while dimming ones that would be too faint to see.
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