Constellation Presentations

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• Sign up on the Schedule sheet for a date to give your constellation presentation.

   

• One week before the presentation:
  • Check the web page for the constellation you are presenting (look on the Planetarium Home Page for the Basic Celestial Phenomena pages).

    Provide me with a printed, improved description of the constellation to post on the web for your classmate's future reference. This can be merely handwritten corrections written on the printed web page, or, if what you are doing is sufficiently different, attach an outline or script of what you are going to say about the constellation.

    Be sure to read the pages in Raymo where your constellation is discussed (these pages are indicated on the website).

  • Comment on how we might improve the constellation print-out for the web page with Voyager software. If you wish, I or a senior planetarium worker will show you how to use Voyager to create a better star chart.
  • With my assistance, or that of a senior planetarium worker, add and align the constellation figure for your constellation on the star projector.
  • With the assistance of myself or a senior planetarium worker, find out how to use the wireless microphone and the hearing enhancement system.
    
• During the presentation:
  • Use the wireless microphone.
  • Turn on the star projector and use latitude motion to set the sky for Shawnee (follow guidelines from the Goto Operation web pages).
  • Bring your constellation into view with diurnal motion.
  • Describe its interesting features (use the Pointer to identify the features described).
  • Tell any skylore or stories that make the constellation interesting and memorable.
  • Park the projector and turn it off (follow guidelines from the Goto Operation web pages).

   

• Plan your presentation for a 5-minute time-limit!

   

• Preparation tips:
  • The balance or mix of different aspects of your presentation (e.g., astronomical, cosmological, mythological, or literary references) is entirely up to you. Plan as if your audience were fellow students who are just like you except they know little about the stars.

     

  • In addition to Raymo and the BCP web pages, if you wish to consult further sources try Burnham's Celestial Handbook and Sky and Telescope issues for the season in which your constellation is prominent (the web pages will tell you when). These are available in my cubicle for reading at your convenience in the division office. There is no need to do library research.

     

  • You may use music, slides, video or other special effects if we have them, and if you have time to incorporate them, but they are entirely optional.

    Remember the apology of Pascal in a letter to a friend: "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter." Take the time-limit seriously, and plan carefully.

   

• Presentation tips:
  • Speak slowly and distinctly, and project your voice. Let the steady tone of your voice convey the calm mood of night.
  • Do not feel compelled to make eye contact with all of your audience! This would require you to orbit the star projector, or bounce back and forth from one side to the other like a yo-yo. The audience expects to hear you, not necessarily to see you, in the planetarium. Don't walk around in an animated fashion, as if you need to do everything you can to make yourself the center of the universe.

    Emphasize visible aspects of the constellations. Don't talk on about unobservable telescopic features unless you have appropriate visuals to illustrate them.

     

  • Simplify your language as much as possible. Omit needless technical terms. Define all technical terms used, such as ecliptic or magnitude.

     

  • Get in the habit of mentioning English equivalents along with every Latin constellation name you mention. Say "Taurus the Bull" instead of merely Taurus; "Aquarius the Water Carrier" instead of merely Aquarius, etc.

     

  • Pointer Pointers:
    1. Hold the pointer steady, and move it very slowly.
    2. Turn the intensity of the pointer down so that it does not wash out the stars you are pointing to. (Remember, you do not need to turn off the pointer lamp when shutting down the console.)
    3. Begin with the pointer arrow close to the main front center field of view.
       • Orient the arrow so that the pointer light can be moved toward the constellation in the same direction the arrow points, then move it at a moderate speed to the vicinity of the constellation.
    4. Point to each star in a constellation pattern distinctly and separately. Star line drawings are just a blur if viewers do not know precisely which stars are intended.
    5. Orient the arrow so that it aligns with the direction of motion. Do not point it one way and move it the other.
    6. When pointing out an object of sustained interest, hold the pointer in place a second longer than you think necessary. The first time, keep the pointer on long enough that someone looking at the wrong side of the room will have time to locate it.
    7. Hint: To point at a significant star while fading on the constellation figure may reinforce the association between the star and a prominent anatomical part. For example, after tracing the stars of Cygnus, point to Deneb, the tail of the swan, as you bring up the constellation figure.

     

  • Refer to Teaching Tips for science education.

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