No observing tonight

Tentatively, we'll go tomorrow night.

Sorry, astro-gang. Can't control the weather.

HW due Thursday

1. Check out these articles from Earth & Sky, especially the first one:

http://earthsky.org/tonight/see-all-five-visible-planets-in-the-february-evening-sky

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/pictorial-guide-to-venus-jupiter-conjunction-in-february-march-2012

2. Here's what to look for tonight:

waxing crescent Moon
Venus
Jupiter
Mercury
Pleiades


3. Finally, take a few minutes to research these questions:

1. Why do we have seasons?
2. What are Kepler's (3) laws?

very awesome.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/17/147071253/video-a-tornado-on-the-sun?sc=fb

Nice applets - play with these.

http://astro.unl.edu/naap/ssm/animations/ptolemaic.swf

http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/java/demos/kennett/Epicycle/Epicycle.html
(play around with the parameters)

http://www.jgiesen.de/geocentric/index.html

http://www.jimloy.com/cindy/ptolemy.htm


http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/flashlets/EpicycleInner1.swf

http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/flashlets/EpicycleOuter.swf

Kewl.

http://www.solarsystemscope.com/

Thanks, Brett!

Better Celestial Sphere image

Observing 1

Astro Lab 2

Observing I - The Fall/Winter Sky


1. List all asterisms visible.

2. List all constellations visible.

3. What planets, if any, are visible?

4. What are the brightest stars visible tonight?

5. What is the winter triangle? Find it and name its stars.

6. What is the winter hexagon? Find it and name its stars.

7. Answer these questions based on Orion:
a. What type of object is located below the belt?
b. What are the two brightest stars? Give their names and colors.
c. Following the belt stars, find the 2 bright stars along the same line. In what constellations are these stars?
d. What are the names of the three belt stars?
e. Give some information about the mythology of Orion.

8. What is directly overhead (at zenith)?

9. What is the current phase of the Moon?

10. What two stars are associated with the “Twins?’

11. When is the next full Moon?

12. List interesting events worth viewing this month.

13. Locate the Pleiades and the Hyades clusters. Describe them.

14. Can you find the Andromeda galaxy, or at least tell roughly where it should be? What is its Messier number?

15. Comment on the general viewing conditions in your region.

Celestial Sphere Image FYI

Reminder / HW and a short video to watch

For most of you, Lab 1 is due tomorrow. It's an informal "lab," so there's no extensive write-up. Answer the questions, including the final "tell me about another interesting calendar, etc." question.

Also, pick your top 3 constellations to learn about. We'll figure out who gets what tomorrow.

Keep looking up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yCzzTkDSMo

The above video is an episode of "Star Gazer," a public television program that was on for many years - a few minutes of astronomy at the end of the broadcast day. I used to love this show and really look forward to it. I met Jack a few years ago - super nice guy. (And yes, that's a big ole' rug on his head.)

He closed his show each time with "Keep looking up!" I love that. Jack died a couple of years back. He is missed.

Jack Horkheimer, RIP

http://jackstargazer.com/

FYI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_brightest_stars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri

Constellations

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellation_list.html

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellationmonth_list.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_constellations



Also useful:

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/

Celestial sphere sites

http://www.cascaeducation.ca/CSA/CSA_Astro9/files/multimedia/unit1/celestial_sphere/celestial_sphere.html

http://www.cascaeducation.ca/CSA/CSA_Astro9/files/multimedia/unit1/celestial_sphere/celestial_sphere.swf

http://astro.unl.edu/naap/motion3/animations/sunmotions.swf

http://www.astronomynotes.com/nakedeye/csph1t5.htm

http://www.astronomynotes.com/nakedeye/s4.htm

Lab 1 - Time and Space

In this lab, you will investigate the myriad ways of keeping time in the universe. Measuring the passing of astronomical time is by no means a trivial task - keep that in mind, as you find the current time according to various websites. This lab is structured as a series of topics, followed by questions and suggested websites. Have fun, and take your time! (Yes, it was time for that pun. On second thought…..)

Local Time

Give the current local time (whenever you are performing this lab), either EST or EDT. Specify whether or not we are on EDT, and when (and how) this will change.

Interested in the time elsewhere? Try this:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Universal Time

UT is counted from 0 hours at midnight, with unit of duration the mean solar day, defined to be as uniform as possible despite variations in the rotation of the Earth. Find the current UT. The clock applet below may be helpful:

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/utclock.html

UT is very similar to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), though this term is not used often these days. Both are 5 hours ahead of EST. Is this currently true? If not, why not?

Longitude and Latitude

These quantities give the location on the surface of the semi-spherical Earth, by laying a grid atop it. Lines of longitude are measured with respect to the Prime Meridian. Find the longitude of your hometown: Lines of latitude are measured with respect to the equator. Find the latitude of your hometown.

Julian Date (JD)

Julian Day Number is a count of days elapsed since Greenwich mean noon on 1 January 4713 B.C., Julian proleptic calendar. The Julian Date is the Julian day number followed by the fraction of the day elapsed since the preceding noon.

Find the current JD:

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

Calendar

Which calendar do we currently use?

What calendar was this switched from, and when?

Why was the switch made?

Does all the world use the calendar we do? Explain.

Sidereal Time

ST is time based on duration of the Earth's rotation with respect to a point nearly fixed relative to the stars. Local Sidereal Time (LST) is computed from ST using a longitude correction. Find the current LST.

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/sidereal.html

The Lunar and Solar Cycles

Have a look at sunrisesunset.com. Determine how the sunrise and sunset times change from day to day. Also determine how the moonrise and moonset times change daily.

Etcetera

Discuss any other times and/or calendars that are of interest to you.