How would the constellations look 2000+ years ago

[bearack]

I'm curious if there are any images of how the constellations would have looked over 2000 years ago versus how they appear today. I'm more interested in how maybe Orion would have looked, but anyone might have any idea how all the constellations would have looked, I would be greatly appreciative!

 

[MeteorWayne]

In 2000 years, there would be almost no noticeable change. Very few bright stars (which the recognizeable constellations consist of) have a large enough proper motion to shift position much in that short amount of time.

There are quite a few dim stars that have large enough sky motion to have shifted a considerable amount in that time, though.

I'll see if I can find some quick info.

The star with the largest proper motion, Barnard's star would have moved nearly 6 degrees in that time....12 times the dimeter of the moon. However, it is magnitude +9.5, so you need a telescope to see it.

Here's a tool to help answer your specific question. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I will when I get a chance:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~sahjps/astro.html


MW

 

[bearack]

In 2000 years, there would be almost no noticeable change. Very few bright stars (which the recognizeable constellations consist of) have a large enough proper motion to shift position much in that short amount of time.

There are quite a few dim stars that have large enough sky motion to have shifted a considerable amount in that time, though.

I'll see if I can find some quick info.

The star with the largest proper motion, Barnard's star would have moved nearly 6 degrees in that time....12 times the dimeter of the moon. However, it is magnitude +9.5, so you need a telescope to see it.

Here's a tool to help answer your specific question. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I will when I get a chance:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~sahjps/astro.html


MW

Thank MW. Perfect. Now, just need to figure out the coordinants for Orion, DOH!

 

[MeteorWayne]

Orion is about Dec 0 Range 20 degrees, RA about 6 hours Range 1.

Hmmm, that didn't work too good. Let me play with it a little. I didn't see Orion in that image. Guess I'll have to read the help file!

 

[bearack]

Orion is about Dec 0 Range 20 degrees, RA about 6 hours Range 1.

Hmmm, that didn't work too good. Let me play with it a little. I didn't see Orion in that image. Guess I'll have to read the help file!

I appreciate the help!

 

[MeteorWayne]

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to get that program to give me anything recognizable yet. Still trying....

 

[adrenalynn]

http://www.jlrdesigns.com/sdc-pics/orion-09ad.png

Absolutely no noticeable difference [to my eye].

(That's 2000 years ago + a few hours to get Orion over the horizon)

* Image Courtesy of Imaginova's Starry Night planetarium software

 

[Bill_Wright]

Hi --
At the risk of being a sycophant I would also suggest Imaginova's Starry Night. Sky & Telescope does software reviews so you might want to look at archives of the past few years before buying one. There are also freebies that run under the Open Source environment, but you had better be at least 20% geeky to be able to properly use them...
Thanks --
-- Bill

 

[3488]

Had a bash here with RedShift.

Gemini & Canis Minor in March 9009 AD, 7,000 years time. Note how Castor & Pollux appear closer together. Also note how Canis Minor has lengthend. Orion has not really changed, as the main stars are so powerful & far away, even over 7 millennia, there is very little change in appearance.

.

Canis Major in March 9009 AD. Sirius has sunk slightly further south & appears closer to Mirzam. The rest of Canis Major like Orion has not really changed as for the same reasons. Lepus too has not changed much.

Bootes in September 9009 AD.

Note how Arcturus has continued to move southwards, making Bootes look like an even longer kite shape than now.

I will be back with some more.

Andrew Brown.

 

[bearack]

Brilliant. Thanks Andrew.

I honestly figured that there would have been allot more shift in the closer stars over 2k years. Then, I guess 2k is really only is about .1000 of a second in comparables.

 

[adrenalynn]

Aha. I thought you wanted 2000 years ago, not 7000 years from now. I think that might have been unclear in your original post. Mine [from Starry Night] was from AD 09 - 2000 years ago

 

[adrenalynn]

Hi --
At the risk of being a sycophant I would also suggest Imaginova's Starry Night.
-- Bill

The very reason I posted a screenshot from Starry Night.