---

How often have you read that the Moon and Sun are one and a half degrees wide? What does that mean as far as the sky is concerned? If you are interested in the hobby of Astronomy, knowing how to estimate degrees will aid you immensely. We know the Sun is much larger than the Moon but because it is further away it appears the same size. If you see a bright meteor streak across the sky it would be appropriate to know how far it travelled. Instead of saying "it went from that tree to that fence post" you could say "it travelled about seven degrees". Okay - How do we tell the degrees when looking at the sky? Below is a chart showing a reasonable way to estimate. The distance between the "pointer" stars (A & B) of the plough is five degrees. Between the two top "bowl" stars is ten degrees and from the tip of the "handle" to star A (Dubhe) is twenty five degrees. If you hold your hand at arms length the drawing below shows how many degrees of sky are represented by different combinations of fingers.

Click the button below for a printable version of this page.

In case you were wondering, this method works for all individuals, adult and child. Since a child's arms are shorter than an adult's, his perception of the sky will be the same!