Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Dive into space exploration history and products with the February 2021 Space & Beyond Box featuring seven items, including three which are only available in this box.
Mars Rover Mission Patch:
After landing on February 18, 2021, Perseverance Rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars.
Astronaut Ice Cream Sandwich:
Eat like an astronaut with a freeze-dried treat invented for NASA’s Mercury Missions.
Space Particles:
Revisit the Apollo 12 mission 50 years later, learn more about Jim Lovell’s experiences, and more!
History of Space Suits Poster:
Study up on your space suits history with a timeline spanning 1961 to the present day.
Martian Regolith Simulant:
Engineered to be chemically and mechanically identical to soil on planet Mars.
Space Shuttle Atlantis Model:
Display your own scale model of the first orbital human spacecraft designed for reusability.
Spacecraft Flashcards:
Discover 30 of the most iconic spacecraft that have explored our solar system.
If you'd like to support me in this adventure of creating a home-made Masters level course for everyone, please consider donating $1/month at patreon.com/spacebutmessier
Dive into space exploration history and products with the February 2021 Space & Beyond Box featuring seven items, including three which are only available in this box.
Mars Rover Mission Patch:
After landing on February 18, 2021, Perseverance Rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars.
Astronaut Ice Cream Sandwich:
Eat like an astronaut with a freeze-dried treat invented for NASA’s Mercury Missions.
Space Particles:
Revisit the Apollo 12 mission 50 years later, learn more about Jim Lovell’s experiences, and more!
History of Space Suits Poster:
Study up on your space suits history with a timeline spanning 1961 to the present day.
Martian Regolith Simulant:
Engineered to be chemically and mechanically identical to soil on planet Mars.
Space Shuttle Atlantis Model:
Display your own scale model of the first orbital human spacecraft designed for reusability.
Spacecraft Flashcards:
Discover 30 of the most iconic spacecraft that have explored our solar system.
If you'd like to support me in this adventure of creating a home-made Masters level course for everyone, please consider donating $1/month at patreon.com/spacebutmessier

![Our Night Sky: Constellations, Celestial Sphere, Milky Way & the Ecliptic
Welcome back to the Astronomy Masters Program for Youtube. Today we’ll be learning about Constellations and The Night Sky
What does the universe look like from Earth?
Shortly after sunset, as daylight fades to darkness, the sky appears to slowly fill with stars. On clear, moonless nights far from city lights, more than 2000 stars may be visible to your naked eye, along with the whitish band of light that we call the Milky Way. As you look at the stars, your mind may group them into patterns that look like familiar shapes or objects. If you observe the sky night after night or year after year, you will recognize the same patterns of stars because these patterns have not changed noticeably in the past few thousand years.
Constellations
People of nearly every culture gave names to patterns they saw in the sky. WE usually refer to these patterns like Orian the Hunter, and Leo the Lion as constellations, but that’s not quite right.
A constellation is actually a region of the sky with well-defined borders; the familiar patterns of stars like Orion and Leo simply help us locate the constellations. They live inside the constellation, they are not THE constellation.
The names and borders of the 88 official constellations (included in a link below) were chosen in 1928 by members of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Most of the IAU members lived in Europe or the United States, so they chose names familiar in the western world like Eagle, Giraffe, Dove and Crow. Recognizing the patterns of just 20 or so constellations is enough to make the sky seem as familiar as your own neighborhood. The best way to learn the constellations is to go out and view them, but it would definitely help to visit a planetarium, or study some star charts or sky-viewing apps.
Next we’ll talk about what’s called the Celestial Sphere. Now I have to say, this is a touchy subject. I’ll start with the definition, then we’ll show you what is actually happening here. When we look up at the night sky, now listen closely here, it APPEARS as if we live under a dome with lights of different brightnesses all around it. While this isn’t true, it’s actually useful for us to think of it as a spherical map, so we can map the sky and keep track of everything.
In this concept, this map of the sky is called the Celestial Sphere. Now in reality, because the stars are SO far away, we lack the depth perception to be able to see the differences in their distance. This caused ancient civilizations to believe we lived on a Flat Earth under a dome. But science and technology have progressed, we have sent men and cameras into space and we have proven that theory to be false.
On this celestial sphere though, there are 4 points to know as you are reading the map.
First is the north celestial pole: the point directly over Earth’s North Pole.
Then we have The south celestial pole is the point directly over Earth’s South Pole.
The celestial equator, which is a projection of Earth’s equator into space, making a complete circle around the celestial sphere.
And lastly, The ecliptic is the path the Sun follows as it appears to circle around the celestial sphere once each year. It crosses the celestial equator at a 23 1/2° angle, because that is the tilt of Earth’s axis.
The last major feature of the night sky we’ll focus on is the Milky Way.
The band of light that we call the Milky Way circles all the way around the celestial sphere, passing through more than a dozen constellations.
The Milky Way gets its name from a Greek myth about the goddess Hera who sprayed milk across the sky. In other parts of the world, our galaxy goes by other names. In China it’s called the “Silver River,” and in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa, it’s called the “Backbone of Night.”
The Milky Way in the night sky traces the galactic plane as it appears from our location within the Milky Way Galaxy.
[show example]
Our galaxy is shaped like a thin pancake with a bulge in the middle. We view the universe from our location a little more than halfway out from the center of this “pancake.” But you have to remember, we live inside the pancake, so in all directions that we look within the pancake, we see the many stars and interstellar clouds that make up the Milky Way in the night sky; that is why the band of light makes a full circle around our sky.
The Milky Way appears somewhat wider in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, because that is the direction in which we are looking toward the galaxy’s central bulge. That is why when we want to study the distant universe, we don’t look towards the galactic plane, we look up or down in relation to it, along directions that have relatively few stars and clouds to block our view Figure
If youd like to support me in this adventure of creating a home-made Masters level course for everyone, please consider donating $1/month at https://www.patreon.com/spacebutmessier Our Night Sky: Constellations, Celestial Sphere, Milky Way & the Ecliptic](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LJuqQtjOPRg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Masters Level Astronomy Course Introduction on Youtube
Welcome to the first Official Astronomy Masters Course on Youtube. I am currently going through a Master’s Program in Astronomy and Space Studies and in this year-long series, I’ll be taking everything I learn and teaching it to you!
In this video, I’ll tell you some of the topics we’ll cover, but I have a quick disclaimer. I write, film, edit, and publish these videos all by myself, but I have a beautiful family with 2 toddlers, a full-time job, a part-time job, I’m currently IN the Master’s program, I’m writing a science fiction book and I also need time to be … human. So sometimes the videos will look like this,
[and sometimes they’ll look like this but the information will be the same so please forgive me if the video and editing quality suffers sometimes. My goal is to give you consistent, weekly lessons in Astronomy, regardless of how much time I have to edit. Deal?]
Great! The classes I’ll be taking over the next year include:
Planetary and Solar System Studies
Astrophysical Studies
Lunar Geology
Astronomical Instrumentation
Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites
History of Astronomy
And of course! My thesis…
Currently I’m in Planetary and Solar System Studies, so we’ll go over topics like:
The Scale of the Universe
The History of the Universe
The Earth’s place in Space
Constellations
Seasons
Moon Phases
Even how to find your place on Earth by simply looking up!
Sprinkled throughout, I’ll publish the next videos in the Cosmology series, tackle really deep questions regarding Dark Energy, the Expansion of the Universe and the Multiverse!
Here is the main point though: This is a Masters Level course. My goal is for you to understand just how smart you are. Even if you can’t grasp every concept, this should motivate you to study science, physics and Astronomy in your own scholarly journey without fear! Because Space, doesn’t have to be hard, in fact, it is naturally occurring all around us and simpler to understand than you think!
Lastly, my goal if for this message to reach as many people as it can so that people all around the world who think they are too stupid to study astronomy, can move forward in the purpose and passions ans chase what they love. You can help in this mission by liking and commenting on each video by telling me your favorite part or any questions that come up, and sharing this video with friends or family you think may enjoy it!
Thanks for your support, and remember, you aren’t too stupid to study space. Masters Level Astronomy Course Introduction on Youtube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LLKw6pjAHBI/mqdefault.jpg)







