The Astronomical “Aah” Scale!

A Self-Evaluation Tool for Amateur Astronomers

 

“We explore because we are curious, not because we wish to develop grand views of reality or better widgets.”

- Brian Cox

 

The stimulus to write this article came from the following somewhat enigmatic WhatsApp message, in some respects similar to the one that led me to a previous blog article (see here), which caught my enthralling attention recently. I reproduce it below exactly as received. 

                                                                  

The Source

Being a member of a group of mostly amateur (at best!) astronomers, I was quick to grasp the meaning of the message, but its actual source was a bit of a mystery as the author’s identity was unknown.  Since I was eying a possible blog article centered around it, I was keen to discover the source, but I couldn’t.  It was then that I turned to one of my trusted and highly resourceful contacts, who successfully traced the source to a well-known 2008 Canadian publication* (see cover page and authors below) intended for serious amateur astronomers.

[* Described as: “Without a doubt, the most comprehensive visual astronomy aid available.” - The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada]

Introducing the work, Robert Burnham, editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine, says:

“Even the most committed urban dwellers, totally at home in the world of concrete, are stunned when they confront an inky-black sky strewn with stars… Too many of us live our entire lives in that world without getting more than brief glimpses of what lies on the other side of sunset… The night sky’s remoteness from human affairs creates almost a cultural barrier for anyone caught by an interest in astronomy…. Planetariums and science museums offer informative, even thrilling programs. But the shows and displays are always mediated by professionals... Even the best of them is no substitute for exploring the heavens on your own.”

Talking of total solar eclipses in particular, which rate as one of the ultimate experiences in the ‘Aah’ scale, the authors quote a veteran eclipse chaser:

“It is…the greatest of all natural spectacles, a truly awesome phenomenon. I want to see everyone I can while I am still physically able to do so. Eclipse chasing has added a new dimension and a real purpose to foreign travel.” 

To wrap up:

“…Astronomy is not an instant-gratification hobby …. It takes time and effort to appreciate what you are looking at and to coax the best performance out of your telescope or binoculars. Backyard astronomers come to know how enjoyable it is to hear the “oohs” and the “aahs” from people who are looking through a telescope for the first time. The ultimate thrill, though, is to be uttering the “oohs” and “aahs” yourself. With this in mind, we offer the backyard astronomer’s Aah Factor, a 1-to-10 scale of celestial exclamation. Factor 1 on the scale is a detectable smile, a mild ripple of satisfaction or contentment. Factor 10 is speechless rapture, an overwhelming rush of awe and astonishment.”

The WhatsApp text message reproduced at the beginning is actually made up beautifully by someone (identity unknown) from the material appearing on p20 of the publication, slightly abridged.  It is an effort at systematizing and quantifying the degree of thrill an amateur astronomer derives from the observation of different types of astronomical phenomena, for the first time or repetitively, while pursuing the exciting hobby, which can become even addictive for some.

Going up the “Aah” scale

The ten point “Aah” scale ranges from 1 for a mild ripple of satisfaction for a routine celestial view to a full 10 for speechless rapture, like viewing a perfect total solar eclipse. While the scale is well explained in the table at the beginning, it is useful to understand each entry in some detail, with relevant annotations, for the benefit of raw beginners, and even moderately experienced observers, of astronomical phenomena. While doing so, I take the liberty of expanding the authors’ examples in the scale with some of my own, somewhat more inclusive, with some elaboration where warranted.  Also, I try to make up for a few glaring omissions, like viewing an annular solar eclipse, which is almost as rare as a total one, and non-visual exercises like discovering an asteroid through a painstaking analysis of data and imagery spewed out by spacecrafts.

ONE

Any routine celestial view through binoculars or a telescope. A faint meteor. A well-turned phrase in a good astronomy book. Sighting of crescent Moon. Day time sighting of the Moon. Sighting of planet Venus. Any artificial earth satellite moving rapidly in the sky. Other.

• I am diluting the requirements in this category by including purely naked eye sights like a crescent Moon, a day time sighting of the Moon, sighting of planet Venus and any artificial earth satellite seen moving rapidly in the night sky.
• In the non-visual category, I would like to include tasks like identifying some of the best-known celestial objects like planets Saturn and Jupiter, the Orion constellation, Ursa Major, etc., from any printed or projected text.

TWO

Finding the planet Mercury. Observing sunspots. Moon’s surface through a telescope. Discovering how clear things look through binoculars mounted on a tripod. Seeing cloud belts on Jupiter. Other.

• In my view, finding planet Mercury is a great deal harder than implied here. The great Copernicus, architect of the solar planetary system, is said to have never seen this planet! One needs to know its location from a sky chart in advance. So, this should be pushed to a later category, five or six.
• Also, sunspots require the right type of filter or a back projection technique to see, and better fit for category three.
• Sunspots are now easy to spot since we are approaching a 11-year peak in solar activity.
• Cloud belts on Jupiter require a decent sized telescope.

THREE

Saturn or the Orion Nebula through a telescope. Even if you have seen them umpteen times before, the starry dome on a clear, dark night in the country. Jupiter’s Red Spot A colored double star. Other.

• Saturn is now in opposition to the Sun and therefore a great sight even through ordinary telescopes and or large mounted binoculars. However, we see the plane of its rings tilted noticeably as it approaches an edge-on orientation relative to Earth.
• Orion nebula is a great sight even through small telescopes in a darkened sky.
• The ‘starry dome’ is a disappointing sight in urban locations. However, it can be spectacular on a moonless night in rural areas far from disturbing lights.
• Albireo (see picture below) in constellation Cygnus is a great coloured double star even through binoculars.

FOUR

A beautiful sunset or sunrise. Seeing a bright Earth satellite for the first time. A partial eclipse of the Moon; A close conjunction of two planets or of the Moon and Venus. Earthshine in binoculars. Finding the Andromeda Galaxy for the first time. Other.

• Most artificial earth satellites are best seen 1-2 hours after sunset. The International Space Station (ISS) is easily the brightest of them all. The Hubble Space Telescope is another.
• An angular separation of a few degrees between two celestial objects can be taken to mean close conjunction.
• Earthshine (see picture below) is when Earth's light illuminates the dark portion of the Moon’s Earth-facing side and reflects it back to us (see picture below). It is best noticed when the Moon is a thin crescent.
• At about 2.2 million light years away, Andromeda galaxy is the closest to us. It is just about visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy elliptical object in totally dark clear skies. It is a good sight through binoculars.

FIVE 

Identifying Jupiter's moons through binoculars for the first time. A moderately bright comet in binoculars. Telescopic detail on Mars. A meteor shower. Pleiades cluster through binoculars. Other.

• Spotting Jupiter’s moons (see picture below) through binoculars may be a challenge if it is handheld; mounting on a tripod helps. A greater challenge would be to identify the moons seen at any particular time
• Comets are best spotted through binoculars first before trying with a low powered telescope. In any case, such comets are very rare, typically once in ten years.
• Any surface features on Mars (see picture below) requires a fairly large aperture telescope with a high magnification.
• Meteor showers require a dark sky, best attempted in remote rural areas.
• The tight little star cluster Pleiades (see Picture below) is a great sight through any binoculars.

SIX 

Recognizing your first constellation; a bright meteor. A good telescopic view of a galaxy or a globular cluster. The shadow of one of Jupiter’s moons slowly crawling across the planet’s face Your initial look at your first successful astrophoto. Other.

• There are a few constellations, like Orion, Ursa Major and Scorpio (see picture below) that are quite easy to recognize and deserve only a two or three, not six. The harder ones probably do.  The location also matters.
• A bright meteor is a random and rare occurrence. 
• For a telescopic view, the Andromeda (M31) is probably the easiest, as is M15 the globular cluster in Hercules.
• Any of Jupiter’s moons seen crawling across the planet’s surface is a great sight, well worth the time required to observe the phenomenon.
• What better first astrophoto than that of a crescent Moon. 

SEVEN

First view of the Moon through a telescope. A first view of the Milky Way with binoculars. A total eclipse of the Moon. A bolide or a fireball meteor. Other.

• A first view of the Moon through a telescope is too easy to be placed here. It should rate no higher than a two.
• The first view of the Milky Way (seen in two of the pictures below), especially the denser parts of it, is indeed a great sight.
• A total eclipse of the Moon, generally lasting a good length of time, is great through binoculars. The coppery red colour of the ‘eclipsed’ Moon is a great sight.
• A bolide (a large meteor which explodes in the atmosphere) or a fireball meteor is an extremely rare phenomenon.

EIGHT

A rare all-sky multi-coloured auroral display. The moment you begin to realize how immense the universe is. Other.

• Unfortunately, this is something specific to the Arctic and Antarctic zones, best seen in places such as northern Scandinavia, Russia, Canada, etc. For people in the rest of the world, it is only a vicarious experience.
• Known as the auroras (Borealis in the northern and Australis in the southern hemisphere), this is as rare as a total solar eclipse for most people.

NINE

A bright comet with a naked-eye tail. Your first view of Saturn’s rings through a telescope. A meteor storm. Viewing an annular solar eclipse. Other.

• A bright comet with a naked-eye trail is as rare as any celestial phenomenon. The last one we know is Hale-Bopp in 1997.
• Saturn’s rings through a telescope are a lot easier with a medium sized telescope, so it can be relegated to category six or seven.
• Meteor storms (see picture below) can consist of thousands of meteors an hour, far more than a regular meteor shower like the Geminids seen in the photograph below.

TEN 

Now, to events that induce speechless rapture and an overwhelming rush of awe and astonishment: 

A perfect view of a total eclipse of the Sun. Discovering a comet or a nova. Other.

• A total solar eclipse (see picture below) is a wonderfully spectacular and extremely rare phenomenon at any given location, with an average repetition rate of about 375 years, and lasts barely a few minutes. Often one may miss out the totality part through cloudy skies.
• To view a total solar eclipse successfully, one needs to be at the right place at the time and in right weather conditions.
• The authors are silent on annular solar eclipses (see picture below) that are nearly as rare, and only slightly less awe inspiring as total ones. I would like to include it under category 9.
• For most people, even astronomy enthusiasts, a successful and perfect view of a total solar eclipse is a once in a lifetime event.
• Discovering a comet that turns out to be visible to the naked eye is very rare. So is a nova that eventually becomes visible even through small telescopes.

Self-Assessment

The effectiveness of any learning process is greatly enhanced if an element of assessment, external or internal, is built into the assessment process itself.  Internal assessment can be quite effective where the result is intended for the sole benefit of oneself and no other person or agency need know about it.  With this in mind, and as a light hearted (but not flippant) exercise, I propose an open-ended self-assessment schema to discover how far one has progressed in the process of traversing up the astronomical “Aah” scale detailed so far.  

Your observation records can be maintained in the format given in the accompanying table (see Annexure) where the sightings/observations/ successful efforts can be recorded with a simple tick-mark in the box against the corresponding descriptor for each of the ten “Aah” factors.  If an entry is to be made multiple times over a repetitive period (days, weeks, months, seasons or years), the number n can be enhanced each time by one.  Each positive recording may be assigned a score that is numerically equal to the factor f (one to ten) corresponding to the entry, multiplied by the number of repeated observations. The overall score is shown cumulatively.

The observation profile in the Annexure is illustrative and relates to a typical observer.

Some Guidelines & Remarks

• The “Aah” factor descriptions and their classification are modified versions of the ones found in the original source and may be further modified as deemed appropriate by the user, who may also like to recast it flexibly, based on one’s own circumstances, perceptions and experiences.
• The ‘Other’ category in each group can be used optionally at one’s discretion to include any activity not specifically listed, but regarded as worthy of inclusion.
• The “Aah” factor scale is conceived principally in respect of visual observations of astronomical phenomena. Other aspects, especially “Aah” inspiring results from data analyses, such as discoveries of asteroids and comets, can be incorporated through a suitable modification of the schema itself.
• The scores are open ended and no statistical data concerning them exist.
• The number of repeated observations can go up to 9 in the table appended, but this may be modified as desired by the user.
• The purpose of the self-evaluation exercise is to provide added stimulus to the process itself and its potential to promote further interest in the observational aspects of astronomy.

Epilogue 

After devising the self-evaluation scheme, I wanted to apply it on myself to find out where I stood.  Though I am not doing badly (the actual scores are immaterial), I found a few gaping holes in my “Aah” moments. Principally these are:

·       Auroral displays (factor eight), never having had a chance to visit any place where these can be seen.

·       A meteor storm (factor nine), as opposed to a meteor shower.

·       Discovering a comet or a nova (factor ten).

However, I have the immense satisfaction of having seen four perfect total solar eclipses and two annular ones during the half a century I have been an amateur astronomer.

This is what eclipse specialist Fred Espenak, known to astronomers the world over simply as “Mr Eclipse”, had to say on a total solar eclipse: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most people to see a total eclipse, and it is one of the grandest sights in all of nature. It's something you'll always remember, and you'll pass stories of it onto your grandchildren.”

I sign off with a 2-minute time lapse video clip of the key phases of one of the great total solar eclipses of recent times. 

Video clip of a total solar eclipse

Observation Record

Any regular and serious observer may like to maintain a spreadsheet record of one’s observations as indicated in the Annexure*. When any achievement is ticked under the ‘Aye’ column, one may also indicate an integral value n for the cumulative number of times it is being recorded. A corresponding score can be arrived at by multiplying n by the weight factor f corresponding to the degree of “Aah” assigned to the particular group in the first column. These scores can be added to arrive at the updated overall score at the time any entry is made. One’s goal should be to see that it is not only high but also on the rise all the time.  Further embellishments of the record are left to the user’s enthusiasm.

[*The text can be copied on to a spreadsheet with suitable modifications]    

See the Annexure (magnify if needed) for an illustrative example of the observation record in respect of an anonymous observer.