Description

This short and informal course is aimed at beginners who want to know more about the wonders of the night sky. It is divided into four classroom sessions and one observation trip in the desert. This course will teach how to observe the sky with the naked eye. It will show the basics of observable lunar and planetary properties, the basics of astronomical coordinates and observations, and the identification of bright stars and constellations. After this course one should be able to understand and describe what is seen in the sky at night and be able to use charts and coordinates to predict it. Each subject of the course will be augmented with references to developments in astronomy in the Arabian world. The course will prepare the students for the observation session, which would start by sunset and end at sunrise: Session 1: Coordinate systems, celestial coordinates, star charts, star finder. Session 2: Movement in the night sky, the different kids of time, the ecliptic and movement of the planets. Session 3: Star classification, the magnitude system, appearances and color. Session 4: Herzprung-Russell diagram, star evolution Session 5: Observation: solar system and constellations (See field trip: WEP 259 B)