What do you find are the most common misconceptions people have about what they see in the sky?

Question

In my years as an avid astronomy fan, I have found the following to be very common misconceptions:
1) People think the Pleiades are the little dipper.
2) People are surprised to find out that we can see Saturn easily with the naked eye.
3) Many think that Polaris is the brightest star in the sky.
4) Most have almost no concept of the vast differences in the distances of stars we see.

I'm interested what other astronomers, professional or informed amateur, have found that most casual observers misunderstand.

Right, prof, so many times when I have been out with my telescope, people have asked how big stars look. They also always ask, "How far can you see with that thing?" ...which really isn't the way we measure a telescope's power.

And as far as that importance vs brightness thing is concerned, I have also run into several people who are really disappointed when they see how insignificant their "signs" are, like Cancer, Aries, Pisces, Aquarius, and Capricornus. Libra's kind of diddly, too. Oh and that reminds me, most people have never heard of Capricornus or Scorpius.

LOL!: even my spell check doesn't recognize Capricornus, but it does recognize Capricorn.

Eelfins, true. And let's not forget satellites. The ones who don't jump at the idea of them being UFO's often ask if they saw a meteor when it was a satellite, by their description.

Yes, pragmatic alien, that may be the most common of all. Of course that is perpetuated by the saying, which just won't go away.

Lindajune, for sure, those are very commonly seen here. Now, don't forget to go outside and just admire the stars once in awhile. (I think some pros forget to do that.)

Popeye, that would be as natural as thinking the earth is stationary and everything else goes around it. Certainly not stupid.

The moon distance thing is common. But that reminded me of another: how much people overestimate the actual apparent size of the sun and moon in the sky. If you asked them which would be closer to the size of the moon, if held at arm's length, a quarter, a nickel, a dime, or a pea. You would probably get mostly nickel. Then about even between a quarter and a dime. And hardly any would say the pea, but that is the right answer.

Jjjnetti..., that is seen here a lot. Many of the people who argue against the moon landing hoax story, use this as a defense of Apollo. No, nothing we left on the moon can be seen with a telescope from earth. Good one. In fact I remember on some club outings, passers by would ask if we could see the flag(s).

Aero, that's a lot like my "Yeah, but how FAR can you see?" And people think you're being obtuse when you have difficulty answering it. For the "how powerful" questions, I feel like saying something like, "320 erg-Henrys per joule degree centimeter squared."

Answer 1

Add to your list:
- they don't understand that the moon does rotate ("but it only shows one face to us so it can't be rotating")
- they confuse "the solar system" with "the galaxy"
- they don't get why you can see the moon during the day sometimes and not others
- they confuse solar eclipses and lunar eclipses

Answer 2

1- so many people think the stars is just a circular shape and make explosions for lighting,don't know maybe it is galaxy .
2- so many people say about any thing lighting with tail is a comet , maybe it is a meteor .
3- so many people think about any one spot light flying in the sky is a UFO , maybe yes and maybe it is a plane .
4- so many people say about the plant ( Venus ) is the star
( siries ) .
5- so many people say the moon is turned around it's selfe and say we see a young face in the moon face when it is acomplete face in the middle of the month .
6- so many people say about the star actures is the star siries and say about the plant Jupiter is rise from the same direction of the Venus planet .
7- so many people say about the airplane that makes a tail is a meteor in the sky .so many people say about the planets in the sky are just a stars .
also say about the star that makes so many coloures this star will make abig explosion .

but i want to appear my view side about the importance of the sun and planets and comets and meteors and Oort cloud :

i think we leave on just a one unit from the atom to the solar system they are the same component the sun in the solar system is like the nucleic of the atom and the electrons like the planets so we must find a connectors they are ( the comets ) the comets is very important for the connection between the nucleic and the center soooo that make me see :
1- the solar system is around about ( center ) ???!!! this center is the Oort cloud it is the root of the comets and it is the great mass that equal the solar system hundreds of times it is handled the solar system and move it on a track like the trackes of the planets about the sun it is about 320 lunar year and every 8 lunar years the solar system is moved 1 bab so we will ask about the hally's comet , where is this comet from the solar system , what is the important rule in the system of the solar system and the center ( Oort Cloud) the center ??? i will say the comet hally is coming to the sun for that only reason ( for giving the sun on the half quarter of the body of the sun gives it the ( IONS) that the comet bring it from the center to the sun to complete the explosions until the next time after 80 luner year = 77.25 year for four times coplete the 320 luner year 80*4= 320 luner year ( this is important discoveries from the book ( ascending to the dominions ) for author : mohamed ahmed teleb ) it is great discoveries .
every 8 years the same monthes and the names of the days is repeated after 8 luner years and so on .

Answer 3

Take a circle one inch in diameter. That's the earth. Take another circle 1/4 inch in diamater. That's the moon which is roughly 1/4 the diameter of the earth. Start the two circles close together and gradually move them apart asking people to tell you to stop when they think you have reached the point of how far the moon is from the earth. Invariably, people tell you to stop when the moon is several inches away from the earth. The moon is actually 30 earth diameters away. That means, using our little circles, that the proper gap is 30 inches. This is unbelievable to people because they have misconceptions about the distances involved in space. After all, the moon looks pretty close in our grade school textbooks.

Answer 4

As a corollary to Prof's #2 - they generally believe that magnification is the only thing that a telescope does -
"How powerful is that telescope?" -
" --well, it has a 10 inch aperture - and right now I'm using this here eyepiece that ---."
" Yeah, but how POWERFUL is it?"

Also, most folks are surprised to find that they are looking far back in time when they see really distant objects.

Added: Here's another one - they often don't realize that the stars rise and set like the sun - I guess they think they just "come out" and then fade away in the morning.

ADDED: Exactly - bushels per hectare

Answer 5

Alot of people seem to think the moon is visible only at night. My sister thought that comets are burning. As a child, I can remember on a nighttime car ride thinking that there were a lot of "3 stars in a row", not realizing that I was seeing Orion's belt each time I looked out the window. Very few people have any grasp at all of astronomy, as a brief perusal of this section will reveal.

Answer 6

1. Most newbies are disappointed that nebulae seen though a telescope are in shades of grey, not colourful like in photos.
2. Twinkling flickering stars low on the horizon, showing the colours of atmospheric abberation, must be alien spaceships. One old timer who knew some terminology pointed out one of these twinklers and gave me a lecture on variable stars.
3. Through a telescope you can see foot prints and US flags on moon.

Answer 7

I've run into people who think Orion is the big dipper.

And as far as your "how powerful" questions are concerned, they probably just want to know the magnification. So just say 500-X, or whatever. Then they'll say, "Is that good?" And you say, "Oh yeah, baby!" They won't know any better. I know it depends on focal length and the size of eyepiece, but just give them the biggest mag you can get.

Answer 8

I actual have in no way actual heard anybody declare the sky is blue as a results of fact the sea is blue, yet I actual have heard them say the sea is blue as a results of fact the sky is blue. it style of feels real looking that the bright ocean could mirror the colour of the sky, and that i think of I actual have observed the sea looking style of gray on a cloudy day.

Answer 9

Your #3 is extremely common. People mistake "importance" and "familiarity" for "brightness." There's a reason stellar brightness got called "magnitude;" Greeks make the same mistake, confusing brightness for importance.

Next in line for me is the expectation that stars will be magnified in telescopes, and disappointment when they are not.

Answer 10

I have read many times in "answers" about the "dark side of the Moon" which of course does not exist.
They confuse it with the "hidden side of the Moon" we cannot see.
They wrongly think that one side of the Moon is never illuminated by the Sun.