Neil deGrasse Tyson's Guide to Skywatching

What does AM or PM mean? Neil deGrasse Tyson walk comedian Chuck Nice through the different lines in the sky, their meanings, and how they are used in science. How do you use the coordinates for a specific star?
Discover the sun’s path along the sky, how far it travels every day, and what Chuck thought AM and PM meant. We explore using right ascension and declination to create coordinates for stars. How does Earth’s precession get factored into this coordinate system? Learn about lines like the meridian, celestial equator, ecliptic, and the galactic equator. Plus, find out why the Zodiac signs are off an entire constellation.
Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus
Get the NEW StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: amzn.to/3PL0NFn
Support us on Patreon: / startalkradio
FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:
Twitter: / startalkradio
Facebook: / startalk
Instagram: / startalk
About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
#StarTalk #neildegrassetyson
00:00 - Introduction
00:21 - Ante Meridian & Post Meridian
2:32 - The Solar Ecliptic
5:38 - How Does The Sky’s Coordinate System Factor in Precession?
10:03 - Impact on Zodiac Signs
13:00 - In Closing: The Finish Line

[@StarTalk]

Do you have a favorite constellation?

[@stephenbennett9991]

I don't believe in astrology. . . because I'm a Sagittarius and we are naturally skeptical.

[@michaelccopelandsr7120]

Yes, it's the, "THE ALL-STAR." A new constellation I'd like your help to get the IAU to officially recognize. Seeing as how you've taken on the IAU and won. My idea for changing the stars includes Orion, Taurus and Pleiades (Subaru). Figure it's time to put something up there that's relevant to us, don't you think? Take Orion's belt and "Betelgeuse" becomes the head with a baseball hat. The 3 stars of Orion's belt make up the 3 fat belt loops on a baseball uniform. Below the belt are two legs bending at the knee. "Saiph" is the back foot and "Rigel" is the front foot. The spear pointing at Subaru/Pleiades is the bat and Subaru/Pleiades is the baseball flying away after being hit. "Bellatrix" is the hand that let go and "Aldebaran" of Taurus is the bat's tip. Put it all together and you get, "THE ALL-STAR." In my case, I see a left-handed batter with a, "7," on the jersey. Which makes him, "Mickey." (As it should be) But you can put any number you want, making, "THE ALL-STAR," any player you want. Please help

[@debbiehaddow4123]

Orion

[@VegaPhil]

Mine is Delphinus. I like how it looks like a small dolphin leaping out of the sea, kinda

[@scribbler60]

Gotta be Orion for me. Dramatic, easily spotted, very distinctive.

[@AccessCode101]

Thank you for hiring graphic designers and animators. These videos are so much better this way.

[@billymetcalfe7698]

I agree! Just need a logo and branding update now.

[@ashtreylil1]

Yeah this is great.

[@oluulo5740]

I agree 👍🏿

[@Etpsenior7ohFoe]

10:11 “so alllll these constellations, are shifted by a whole constellation“ 😂😂😂😂

[@thomashuber8496]

I really enjoy the chemistry between NDT and Chuck Nice. While Chuck is a comedian, not a scientist, he is intelligent and well informed, making his comedic observations amusing and informative. He needs to perform in Portland Oregon.

[@elementalds]

I love his random bursts of absurd jokes, I know a lot of people these days are sensitive to jokes about race but chuck understands its just a joke, i hope the viewers do too. "like a black girl's head bob, mmmmhmmm"

[@xamirozar]

Chuck has learned so much being involved. It is such a treat to hear him talk with guests and say something so unexpected in their eyes. In the episode with David Sinclair, Chuck said something that impressed David so much he said Chuck should come work with him at Harvard :D

[@adarsh4764]

NDT sounds like a acronym for a pharmaceutical drug!

[@intello8953]

Can we stop using the same comments every podcast or video? Yes we get it chuck is funny and Neil is really smart so can we now discuss what the videos is actually about 🤦🏾‍♂️🙄. I swear some of you guys have this weird worship fetish for certain human beings

[@lynnehenderson4140]

He's also a super space/science geek LOL

[@delphinmutaka8145]

I grew up in Africa, my mother who is now 99 and still strong and sharp used to tell me about these lines but in my mother language. It is amazing to hear Neil explaining things so nicely.

[@tokozamuimo]

Please record her talking about it! The wisdom that could be shared with the world is incredible

[@bloodysword1022]

​@@tokozamuimo I surmise

[@Nope-w3c]

Seconded. I would love to hear some recordings :D

[@iamdacaah9578]

Is she Dogon?

[@poeticpoems1234]

Bless her, she is a living history book. You should record her knowledge for you and your family.❤❤

[@helpus1456]

Ante meridian and post meridian. Committing them to memory. Thank you

[@randomkindness1470]

for a large part of my life AM has meant "After mid-night", and PM "Past mid-Day"

[@aoifedeborha2420]

Same!!! I only vaguely knew that the "M" stood for Meridian at around 10, and it's today that I learn what the meridian actually is XD

[@ovide1000]

After mid-night and Past-morning... I leaned it that way as an European because we use 24h clock - Now i know :)

[@darlenebartos3267]

So much fun. Fun facts

[@stephaniestephers4586]

I was thinking it meant something like amplitude modulation.

[@TheKobiDror]

This was news to me, too. Definetly after midnight and P... pre midnight? I don't know. But now I do.

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

I like how his role is "I'm not the scientist, I'm just a comedian" but he's doing all this math in his head instantly

[@lehlohonolorichardshuping9605]

I recently came back from camping with friends out at the Drakensberg mountains. I felt like an expert amongst my peers helping them identify constellations and some stars and planets. I got all that knowledge from this incredible channel.

[@ashtreylil1]

How did you learn to identify constellations from this channel? I've listened to a ton of these and haven't ever heard them talk much about how to do this.

[@andypeiffer5]

I love how methodical Neil's teachings are

[@NashawnBridges]

😮

[@Eaglesrule199126]

As a person who recently started doing Astrophotography, this is made things click. Thanks Neil and Chuck! StarTalk is the best educational channel on KZbin.

[@Arnica_Burdock]

Neil is so endearing, I can't help grinning watching him explain things.

[@john.carlson23]

I have so memories as a kid of my Dad taking my brother and me out at night to find constellations. Such great memories!

[@shiftylad9938]

My daughter who is 32 now said she loved me trying to explain the constellations. She buying her first house now. Bought herself a telescope for the spare room facing north 😂👍🙏

[@john.carlson23]

@@shiftylad9938 That's awesome that you shared that with her, and what a great idea to get a telescope!

[@saraf5414]

I wish my Dad did that with me when i was a kid 😞

[@MichaelDembinski]

Loved it. I'm 66 and have learned a whole lot of new stuff! Right ascension and declination, precession, galactic equator - fascinating, thank you guys for the facts and the laughter!

[@greenjelly01]

"Them royalties dried up!" 😂 what wit and timing!

[@vitkomazzetti2340]

Okay, Neil, I'm a astronomy enthusiast, but your explanation about the lines on the sky REALLY astounded me. I learned a lot, and i am very thankful ... :)

[@randomkindness1470]

The addition of editors/ clever editing, animations... its taking the channel in a direction that I really like. I can see a full on animation with animated versions of Neil and Lord Chuck immersed in an ''explainer'' universe of outer space worlds

[@ANS_11419]

I’ve got to know more stuff from this channel than all the school days from kindergarten to highschool farewell. Interesting stuff!!

[@RobertWrayGuitar]

Me too

[@tyrone4u559]

Me too

[@ruttanderic9454]

Such promotion

[@Nilguiri]

American?

[@nedludd7622]

You should have paid attention in school.

[@ParduzTube]

In italian, "noon" is "mezzogiorno" (literally mid-day) which comes from the latin "meridies"... which originates also the word "meridian". The italian word for Afternoon is "pomeriggio", which is a contraption of "post-meridian". This makes me a bit less surprise when Neil explain these stuffs, as it is part of my everyday language :)

[@lukedaymusic4585]

I like it. Latin based languages reveal more meaning.

[@leighcoleman9147]

I will have to watch this multiple times to understand the concepts. Loved it.

[@Lavender333R]

Me too adhd😂 lol ✌️🫶💡

[@kunalsinghal1247]

Glad i am not the only one. I was lost in the middle after all lines were specified.

[@felicias-s4018]

😮"worst than pluto for you..." 😂😂😂😂😂 As always gentlemen, thank you!

[@abrilryandacanay2816]

No wonder I didn't have a good day today; I was wearing blue when I was supposed to wear red. Thanks a lot, Neil.

[@Shaileeky]

10:36 LMAOOOOO

[@Bryan.Hernandez]

I love seeing a cut away when he makes a joke. That just meant Neil was laughing so hard that it took sometime to get it back together and continue his lesson lol

[@watchingdanny]

Fun fact: Grand Central Station in NYC has all 13 Zodiac constellations on the ceiling of the main entrance.

[@llnvamsi]

Sheldon alert

[@Divine81Empress]

This is so awesome.. thankhs 4 sharing

[@watchingdanny]

@@llnvamsi If we're watching Star Talk, aren't we all a little "Sheldon"? 😁

[@danimay3282]

This is my favorite thing in the internet. Thanks for another great episode.

[@SuperiorDave]

I love listening to these conversations. The graphics and cut aways make it even better, too. This is great.

[@TJ-hs1qm]

How I remember latidute vs longitude: Picture a balloon that looks like the Earth, with a pencil in the middle pointing towards the surface. As the balloon rotates, if we move the pencil up or down from the middle line (called the equator) at a certain angle called latitude, it will create a line that runs parallel to the equator. This line is also called the latitude. But, if we move the pencil left or right (east or west) at a different angle called longitude and change the rotation of the balloon to be north to south, the pencil will create a line called longitude.

[@Astrogator1]

I have been watching the sky since 5 years of age and understood most of what you talked about but learned several things such about am and pm and the dates for precission (my understanding was not as good as I thought 😢) So thanks to both of you I am a slightly better amateur astronomer to night

[@CaptainBuggyTheClown]

I like how Neil always keeps leaving questions for Chuck to answer showing hes both engaged and knowledgeable, and it does a good job at reinforcing things to learn them. Also it admittedly breaks up neil from sounding like he's ranting over people lol.

[@grannysvids]

I am more educated than I was before I watched this video, thank you so much

[@amandas.6500]

Great information as usual, and I enjoy the graphics to help drive the point home!

[@chhana101]

I first knew about Ophiuchus from FairyTail and I was amazed about to know the 13th Zodiac for the first time when I was a kid.

[@sunofa67]

I love watching your videos. The level at which you deliver information in a manner that is so easy to understand is unparalleled. If all educators had this ability, learning would be so much more fun and easier to decipher.

[@plyric]

8:42-9:00 - This is why I love listening to Neil... I always learn something new and intriguing. ❤❤❤❤❤

[@amethyst49ergurl]

The intro is gorgeous ❤❤❤❤

[@chickadeeacres3864]

Thanks for a very clear explanation of things one should know before even looking for constellations.👌

[@Castor1986x]

I just got my first telescope (Celestron) and partially you made my mind to do so and I can't be happier, thanks for everything you do (Id call you "a service to the society")

[@Mmalebogo]

The sense of humour opens up the simplicity in the explanations. I just shared this with my son because of the AM/PM explanation. The rest of the lines will save me some time when explaining to my guy I’ll be glued to this channel now

[@James_Baggott]

This was so enlightening! One of the best yet.

[@fourleafcloverr3135]

I like this new intro, thanks for the content Neil & Chuck, from France

[@cpm9747]

No one ever explained how we "knew" the axial tilt of a planet! This was lovely! Thank you!

[@thagrintch]

The images really helped. Great video, Neil! Thanks for such great content!

[@angelikalindenau943]

Yep, I now have a good idea of how that star chart is composed 🤫

[@sindicite3566]

this is the explainer ive been waiting for, specifically explaining the zodiac signs. growing up i was told my birthday fell under the Leo sign and i went around saying that until i noticed they technically switched at some point making me a cancer as according to the days/chart. i did a bunch of research and read somewhere about the signs shifting with time because of the detail neil mentioned and have been waiting for someone like neil whos more educated than me to explain so i can share the knowledge with others

[@lotusphoenix8]

This gives more credibility to the sidereal astrology system then.

[@ThisisDaniel]

​@@lotusphoenix8Sidereal is technically accurate. However, some people still use the Western / standard system for an alternate perspective.

[@ksy4747]

​@ThisisDaniel they all have a place and relation to your as a person. I've done numerous charts, the ones that resonate the most are western (I guess whole house system) and sidereal with 13th sign (to which I used to be resistant, but it actually turned to explain so much lol). Vedic, not so much.

[@ThisisDaniel]

@@ksy4747 I alternate between the various charts. Sidereal is akin to vedic, as they use the same metrics to calculate placements. I hear you, though x

[@ksy4747]

@@ThisisDaniel have you looked into human design and gene keys?

[@xneapolisx]

My dad taught me the AM/PM definition when I was a little kid and it has stuck with me through the years. I wonder whether am/pm timekeeping will slowly fade into oblivion, since much of the world now uses a 24hr clock system (already in use by US military)? Thanks for the refresher, Neil dG T 😊

[@mashanyu834]

I appreciate the illustrations. so much better. I always say Chuck is smarter than you would expect. I love this duo. Watching from South Africa.

[@YEUPBOYNATURAL]

Now that's a worthy intro! Thank you

[@shashankbusybeesl-vt2bk]

Neil is the best teacher ❤❤

[@harryc6181]

Great content sirs, was entertaining and informative. Love the show

[@hhymounp]

I love that you guys are using graphs now makes it way more entertaining

[@creatorsedge3822]

I'm currently doing a Celestial Navigation Course. This video is Sooo helpful. Love the content always 🙏🏾🙌

[@BenjySparky]

Neil and Chuck, y'all rock! Love the channel and content. Peace 🤘 💥 ✌️

[@MrAshtute]

The last time i got this many lines was from my school teacher saying i must not talk in class.....had to write it 500 times....so i dud 1000 and told them to keep the other 500 for next time....i got another 500 lines saying i must not talk back to my teacher.

[@jacquelinevanfossan7007]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I feel your pain

[@rkidd3485]

Last time for me was all my answers I thought I had right were wrong 😂😂😂 just like my Zodiac 😂

[@auntkathy9141]

Learned a lot! Appreciate the simplicity in each explanation.

[@bhaskarnarendra5260]

Thanks for making generations curious. God bless you mr. Neil. ❤

[@mianawawi8750]

This changes EVERYTHING!!!

[@lindafox1679]

Very informative!! Thank you. I love you guys!

[@pistonwristpin1]

Wow doc that was truly captivating. I don't know why I can follow you, picturing all that in my head. Chuck is so there with me too.

[@robthegreat3216]

I love the feeling of getting my mind blown on every new startalk episode 😂

[@laminjatta821]

Thanks Neil for the Videos. They are always educational and entertaining.

[@Rahulnpx]

This was brilliant!!! And very hilarious 😂. Thank you Neil and Chuck...

[@lizsteilkie]

Yes and I'm so excited by your explanation! Thank you sir!

[@vedagirishankar59]

I would need to listen to this at least 10 more times to get a bare bones understanding of this subject but thanks guys for trying.

[@dimensionanimationz-africa4205]

Attending this amazing lecture from Namibia, South West Africa the country with the oldest desert

[@dawnpiker9620]

I pondered this a few years ago and it made me appreciate every day every moment sunrise cloud sky colors sunsets axis tilt time will never happen again in the same manner it’s all original and singular moments… oh the rabbit hole!!!

[@Harshavardhan-ft6xr]

Many thanks for enlightening us. You teach wonderful concepts in a simplified language which several schools failed to do in decades

[@shoujiki999]

This is mind blowing.

[@satisfyerpro]

I live in Indianapolis. We have a street called Meridian. It's center of the city and goes north/south. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 I never even questioned it

[@supremeg40]

Yeah I’m here too lol I live a street ova from meridian i always knew it was the middle of the city , I tell folks I live in the middle of the city I’m 20 to 25 mins away from East and west etc

[@GManfam23]

I’ve lived on 96th st and merdian and now by south Emerson near Meridian and honestly I am blown away. And Indianapolis is near the middle so Meridian balances that in a weird way

[@mayham187]

I love topics like this❤ I need more friends to have convos like this

[@thecomplimentking]

This is my favorite podcast duo. %+

[@shwetasharma154]

Pls do make videos on observational astronomy for beginners

[@NuubiKakku]

There is no way... I just watched your grab bag from 9months ago and neil made chuck guess these acronyms, what a coincidence

[@BLKMAN122667]

Just wanted to say wow. Super interesting topic. And thank you both for doing for science/astrophysics what the daily show and Colbert report have done for news/politics. Continued success to you both.

[@lovelybyrdsnest]

My teenagers love quizzing me on what I remember from high school. I now have some comeback questions for them! Thank you for the information, I never knew what AM and PM stood for until now!

[@SirBMW82]

I usually listen to all of these in the car and this one needed a rewatch with all the information thrown at us! 😂

[@IamAyo.]

Phew! Yo Neil! You should consider issuing certificates to us your students.😂😂😂

[@feeaarrhim]

Na fr I swear

[@raiu8990]

^this comment

[@daisy9910]

This was thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you.

[@sky_warrior_372]

Orion and Scorpius are high on my list. Thanks for the lesson 🌠

[@GraceColeman-bb2vm]

I seriously love Neil he's one of my favorite people on the planet!!!! ❤

[@MVeans]

Actually Neil, there are 12 constellations in the Zodiac if we exclude Libra. You see Libra was added by the Romans which meant that they chopped off the claws of the Scorpion to design Libra. So let's restore Scorpius to its rightful place and justice will be done instead of divined. Also not all constellations are equal. Virgo has a width of some 45 degrees like with Pisces. I'm not into astrology, yet there is a form known as 'sidereal astrology' which takes into account constellation width and precession and if it was me, returning the claws to Scorpio. Kind regards.

[@bllaccktesla180]

You the first person that disagrees in the comments 🔥, there so much misinformation from these scientists people trust

[@MVeans]

@@bllaccktesla180I'm sorry but I don't agree with you. The information I gave is not "mission critical" but rather "historical" and which it is easy for a person not to be up-to-date with. The zodiac system is a Western cultural perception of arranging star patterns. If you check out other cultures you will find they have different displays for the zodiac; nothing traumatic about that. On the otherhand when we are speaking about scientific information, this refers to info that can be repeatedly tested and verified. There is no misinformation here, just a few snippets that Neil may not have known about. Btw I think the Chinese have the zodiac resemble a very long dragon; so it's all about "seeing things".

[@MsSunstoned]

All my life, a long one before the internet, I thought I'd learned that it meant 'after midnight' ~ Love you guys.

[@denisebledsoe8836]

This show makes learning so much fun!!

[@danielbalcan6270]

You have ruined the lifes of those zodiac people!😂😂😂

[@nyclee9133]

Not necessarily it further explains it

[@Tbone.357]

​@@nyclee9133 unless they've been basing their life on it for decades and now finding out they're under a different sign? 😲🫣😭

[@t.c.pthecompletepackagellc21]

⁠@@nyclee9133FacTZ, this explains how the Pyramids & the sphinx are far older than westerner Egyptologist come to terms with 👁️

[@t.c.pthecompletepackagellc21]

Jesus love fish, and that was the age of Pisces…

[@johncronin7875]

@@nyclee9133bwahahahaha

[@archbishoprichardforceginn9338]

Holey Eternal Omnipresent Greetingz 🌠

[@smartbutuneducated8637]

Nice episode. The whole episode is about perception and translation. Most of my questions are about relative issues in science. The whole episode is based on definitions we have given things changing over duration. A couple questions I have are: Can mass of the liquid core be determined by the tilt of the shell of our earth with respect to the perpetuation of heat predicted from our core? If we were to contact lets say non local life in the universe. Our perception of time which as I understand it is more of a durational experience which most likely is a factor of density be communicated? I am a believer that C (the speed of light) is not the speed of time and with that if communication existed with total disregard of physical dimension how would one communicated a position in space-time to something without a common point?

[@jbirdz3609]

Visuals are SO very helpful

[@l2icardo888]

❤ Meridians

[@BLOXKAFELLARECORDS]

I bet Meridians love you ❤ too. 😊 #johnnyx100

[@archbishoprichardforceginn9338]

Dayum, Spherical Trigonometry 😵‍💫😆

[@isaackitone]

After midnight, post midday 😂😂😂

[@hookabunny5030]

Yeah yall need to stop messing with daylight saving times... seems like they are trying to conjure up a new way to leave us false time and dates because of daylight savings times...Leave time alone....

[@SheSweetLikSugarNSavage]

That's a beautiful intro❤ love it.👌

[@FriendlyYoda]

Oh this was awesome. Always random but welcome. You both are a gift

[@SoItGoesCAL34]

That was fun, THANKS!

[@mulaneyfangirl]

As a lover of comedy, a lover who uses comedy to deal with life; I’m so grateful science has put the comedic spin in its storytelling!

[@thatancientchick]

Omg this was wild just listening to this! The fact you talked about polestar and the Egyptians and how we are actually not a certain zodiac sign makes so much sense!! Loved this video!! Thank for this!!

[@heathers.9740]

After NDT explained how the eclipse worked on the Today show, I'm inpsired to watch more of these videos to relearn science! I didn't major in science but I always enjoyed my science classes in high school and astronomy in college!

[@mmare1263]

Amazing, my Geography teacher would explain that to us, kids, in 4th grade, in Romania 🇷🇴, back in 1977

[@darklawyergirl7]

“I’m so sorry guys, this is worse than Pluto for you”😂 This challenges everything we read about the signs of the zodiac.😩😂

[@its_space_ranger8834]

Love the new intro

[@jamar959]

EVERYTHING you just said "freaked me out"! It was awesome!

[@MaryNewman-zu6kr]

This was great... I learned a lot and laughed a lot... Neil and Chuck you are a couple of cool dudes

[@MissJean63]

Where I live in the Inland Empire, Southern California, we have Meridian Ave (north to south) and Baseline Ave (east to west). The mountains are always north. Makes navigating easy.

[@Mooncaque]

Love the intro Animation on this one!

[@rumguk]

Thats great i always was curious how fhat works! Thanks

[@jeanettecooper1582]

Thank you. I've learnt so much in such a short time !