Night Sky Observations

Night Sky Observations
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Observed item Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
The Moon and its phases Waning gibbous, lunar mare, craters mountainous regions clearly seen, average distance from earth is 400,583 km, moonrise was between 00:00 hours to 01:00 hours Waning crescent, lunar mare and mountainous regions disappear as days go by, craters cannot be seen, average distance from earth is 396,170 km, moonrise was between03:00 hours to 07:00 hours Waxing crescent, lunar mare, mountainous regions and craters start appearing as days go by, average distance from earth is 375,002 km, moonrise was between 08:00 hours to 12:00 hours Waxing gibbous, lunar mares, mountainous regions and craters can be clearly seen, average distance from earth is 266,436 km, moonrise was between 13:00 to 17:00 hours Waning gibbous, lunar mares, mountainous regions and craters can be clearly seen, average distance from earth is 393,370 km, moonrise was between 19:00 hours to 23:00 hours
North Star No observation North star observed No observation No observation No observation
Position of two constellations No observation
Little dipper is hanging down from Polaris, big dipper is below the little dipper No observation No observation No observation
Identify at least four other constellations. Leo, Virgo, Corvus, Andromeda galaxy,
Perseus Double Cluster, Cassiopeia
Great Square of Pegasus, Orion Taurus ,
Nose of Pegasus

Orion, Aries, Taurus, Auriga Leo, Orion, Andromeda galaxy,
Milky Way No observation No observation No observation No observation No observation
Planet movement Jupiter is seen rising below the moon and pairs with the moon, Venus is seen in the south-east, Mars and Spica are also seen Venus pairs closely with the moon, Venus appears and reappears No planets observed No planets observed Mercury observed in the west-southwest,
Jupiter shines above the moon,
Celestial objects or phenomena Vega, Deneb, Altair stars Andromeda galaxy,
Lota Cas star
Geminids Meteor shower
Fomalhaut
Procyon,
Sirius,
Comet
Catalina,
Geminids meteor shower, Beta (β), Alpha (α) Aquarii, The little Pleiades cluster
the Dog Star,
Water Jar Asterism.

Sirius, Pleiades
Sirius, the Dog Star, Betelgeuse
, Procyon, Regulus
Meteorological conditions Cold, winter conditions, a lot of cloud cover Cold, winter conditions, too much cloud cover Cold, winter conditions, still too much cloud cover that begins to clear The sun begins to appear, Cold, winter conditions, less cloud cover in the afternoons Cold, winter conditions, The sun begins to appear, little cloud cover
Summary of findings
The study period was divided into five weeks. The first week covered the period from first to fifth December 2015. The second covered the period between 6th to 12th December. The third covered the period from 13th to 19th December. The fourth covered the period from 20th to 26th December while the fifth covered the period from 27th to 31st December 2015.
The North Star constellations, which consist of the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, was only observed for the 2nd week. It was a winter month. I could not observe the Milky Way in any particular week. The moon was three-quarters full at the end of the first week, a new moon at the end of the 2nd week, a first quarter at the end of the third week, a full moon at the end of the fourth week and back to the third quarter at the end of the fifth week. The five weeks made up a full moon phase cycle. The dark regions on the moon represent the lunar mare while the white areas represent the highland regions of the moon. The hole-like regions represent the craters. They could not be observed clearly on a crescent moon.
The distance between the moon and the earth reduces each week of the moon phase up to the fourth week .it then starts increasing again in the fifth week. The moon starts rising late at night (00:00hours) in the first week. It then rises earlier than before in the consecutive weeks. The only observable planets were Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Spica, and Mars. The stars are difficult to differentiate from the planets but with knowledge of astronomy, one can be able to tell the difference. The study faced certain constraints such as the danger involved in lurking out very late in the night.