Photography and the night sky

If you have done the science project in the last blog post you already have the ideal location for star gazing all mapped out for the project. For an unusual science fair project you could elect to look for the dimmest star that you can find. The usual rule is that the brighter a star appears the larger it is and the closer it will be to the planet Earth.

To hunt for the star that is the most far away can be a real challenge as the dim star light is usually the most difficult to measure in terms of apparent magnitude. That is the measurement used to showcase the brightness of a star. This would not be a science project for beginners as some  detailed calculations will be part of the project.

Also there will be a need to utilize a digital camera to take photographs of different sections of the night sky to find the dimmest stars. Then these specific stars would have their brightness measured to determine which amongst them is the one that you seek. Histograms of the snapshots taken would also have to be created to show the magnitude of the star.

The project would involve careful record keeping and a great deal of dedication. There is also a pre requisite to have a fairly good idea about what the night sky actually looks like. It would be a great science fair project if all aspects were taken care of.