About
Naked-eye astronomy invites us to enjoy and learn about the night sky without any optical aid or a telescope. In theory it might seem easy to simply look up and dive into the world of stars, but in practice is often difficult to achieve. Some of the contributing difficulties include: light pollution, night sky observations cannot be carried out during regular school lessons, and our modern world provides us with many distractions preventing us from looking up at all. As such, this is one of the main tasks of educators & practitioners, to encourage and motivate students to overcome this first step. In addition, observing the night sky with no tools is an activity that many professional astronomers have little experience in. However, learning about the night sky can help overcome fears of the night, and unlock the wonders of the sky. This resources provide a guide to transition from theory to practice and application of various aspects that enable planning projects related to Naked-eye astronomy. Various possibilities are presented to provide students as well as the public, with different backgrounds and interests an invitation to the night sky. This can be via the use of a mobile phone app to get started until the use of a planisphere is learned, night sky observations at observatory or historical sites or even in a café in a city.
Mini-review document
This review was the topic of a session at the 3rd Shaw-IAU Workshop. The proceedings from this session have been adapted into a mini-review (PDF file 5.70 MB) f .
Conference presentation topics and additional resources
Talks
- Astronomy diaries and their effect on students' understanding and attitudes
- Inviting students and teachers to look up!
- Naked eye astronomy projects
- Promoting of Astronomy through Naked-eye Observation on Heritage Sites
- Star Stories at Kottamia Observatory
- Students' mental models about the apparent motion of the Sun and stars.
- The citizen night-sky from Valparaíso
- The Impact of Stargazing Events on Students’ Interest in STEM in Ethiopia
Poster Presentations
- Astrocultural tourism in Romania -another way of doing astronomy education
- Star tales that tell the origins of their names
Selected Images
- Astrocultural tourism in Romania -another way of doing astronomy education
- Star tales that tell the origins of their names
Selected Images
Selected Diagrams
Also available in black and white
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Also available in black and white
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Also available in black and white
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Also available in black and white
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Also available in black and white
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Also available in black and white
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Selected Videos
Big Dipper and Comet Neowise C2020 F3
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Southern Sky Over La Silla
Credit: José Rodrigues/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Beautiful Night in the Atacama Desert
Credit: Uwe Reichert/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
The Big Dipper in the Polar Night
Credit: Stephanie Ziyi Ye/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
The Big Dipper with the Sardinia Radio Telescope SRT
Credit: Antonio Finazzi/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Big Dipper Over the Mono Lake
Credit: Fabrizio Melandri/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Linked Glossary Terms
- Andromeda
- Andromeda Galaxy
- Apparent Magnitude
- Aquarius
- Aries
- Artificial Satellite
- Asterism
- Atmosphere
- Atmospheric Extinction
- Aurora
- Big Dipper
- Brightness
- Cancer
- Capricornus
- Celestial Body
- Celestial Pole
- Celestial Sphere
- Circumpolar Stars
- Cluster
- Color
- Comet
- Cometary Coma
- Cometary Tail
- Conjunction
- Constellation
- Corona
- Crater
- Dark Nebula


