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Astronomy/Right Ascension and Declination

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Expert: Steven LJ Russo - 5/20/2005


Question
What is the Right Ascension and Declination of the following things from 45 degrees North, 122 degrees W:

Gemini (on Dec. 21, Jan. 21 and Feb. 21)
Taurus (on Dec. 21, Jan. 21 and Feb. 21)
Cancer (on Dec. 21, Jan. 21 and Feb. 21)
Scorpius (on June 21, July 21 and Aug. 21)
Capricornius (on June 21, July 21 and Aug. 21)
Sagittarius (on June 21, July 21 and Aug. 21)

If you can't answer this, do you know someone that could or a site that could tell me. I have been looking for a week and can't find anything.  

Answer
RA and DEC are for specific locations in the sky, and not necesarily for a wide area like constellations.

It would be like trying to find Latitude and Longitude for Texas.  Too big an area, but you could find Long and Lat for specific cities.

If you knew of names of stars in those constellations, you could then go to Yahoo, and type in a stars name, and a site of constellations would come up with the stars RA and DEC.

Also, a stars RA and DEC is always the same, regardless of YOUR longitude or latitude, or time of year.  Similiar to your house address, which is always the same, wheyther you are home, or a hundred miles away.

Steve

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Steven LJ Russo

Expertise

As a space science educator in a planetarium, my work centers around teaching people about the night sky and the solar system. I have a strong background in those areas, plus the history of NASA and spaceflight, and meteorology.

Experience

Experience in the area. I have been an amateur astronomer for 47 years, and have been teachng space science in planetariums for 34 years. For 15 years I was a radio and television meteorologist, and for the past 20 years I have been a space science writer for two newspapers in New York State. I am a member of the Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society and the International Planetarium Society. I have had a number of articles published in several astronomy journals, including "The Constellation" and the "Planetarian". Education/Credentials. I hold a B. S. from Wagner College and an M. S. from State University of New York at Oswego. Awards and Honors. I have been awarded the "Fellows" award from the International Planetarium Society for more than 20 years of continuous service in the planetarium field.

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