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How Do I Know When Stars Set in the Sky?

Few things in nature are more stunning than staring into the night sky that's lit up with thousands of stars. It's easy to lie on your back and watch them slowly move about the sky as the Earth rotates. The rotation of the Earth and its orbit around the sun does change the position of the stars in the sky and also changes when the stars will set. Depending on the time of year, they may set earlier or later. One of the easiest ways to find out when any star is going to set is by utilizing a free online astronomy almanac.

Things You'll Need

Online almanac
Latitude and longitude coordinates

Instructions

- 1
  Use a map to find out your city's longitude and latitude coordinates. You should use your fingers to trace the coordinates to your city since its difficult to keep track of all the coordinates. This will help you from making a mistake.
- 2
  Go online and find a free astronomy almanac. You can use any Internet search engine. Two easy-to-use almanacs can be found at SkyandTelescope.com and Fourmilab.ch.
- 3
  Enter your latitude and longitude coordinates.
- 4
  Enter the date you will be looking at the stars.
- 5
  Press the appropriate button to begin the calculation process and read the results. You'll now have the information on when your stars will be over the horizon--i.e., set in the sky--along with other information that may be helpful while you stargaze.

Astronomy