How to use the Online AstroViewer to Find Your SunSign
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College
For one of your initial homework assignments, I have asked you to identify your actual "sunsign" - the constellation that was behind the Sun in the sky on the day you were born. This is easily done with the Edmunds Star & Planet Locator that is one of the recommended resources available in our Chabot College Bookstore, as well as online. If you have not yet purchased a locator, you can instead use this online application created by Dirk Matussek. The AstroViewer application is available at http://www.astroviewer.com/interactive-night-sky-map.php .
Step 1: Access AstroViewer online.
As it loads, you should see the Interactive night sky map area, and eventually (after the tool loads, which might take a moment) you'll be able to click on the Start AstroViewer link.
Step 2: Change the date to match your birthday.
Using the < and << buttons, change the day and month to match your birthday. You can - if you want - be very specific here, and include the year as well as the nearest large city where you were born, but it is NOT required. All you need for this assignment is to match your day and month. Do not change the time to when you were born - we'll adjust time in the next step. You'll want to leave the ecliptic on; it marks the path of the sun in the sky, in front of the zodiac constellations that form the "sunsigns" in astrology.
As an option, you can clcik on Location/City and find a big city in the database near to where you were born, or even create a location if you can identify its latitude and longitude coordinates (try Google maps!) But this step is NOT required in determining the sunsign on the day you were born. Can you understand why?
Step 3: Change the TIME to NOON on the day/month you were born.
You'll do this so that the Sun will be easily found in the middle of the sky. Even if you weren't born at noon, this procedure will STILL be valid to locate the zodiac constellation nearest the sun on your birthday. Why do you not need to worry about the time here?
Step 4: Find the Sun - the Yellow Ball
From this, you can identify the constellation behind the sun on this date. Mouse over to the yellow ball and the zodiac constellation nearest (and behind) the sun will be visible in green; its name will appear as well. Is this the sunsign you *thought* would be present for your birthday?
sh 6/11
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