ASTR 1514 Sp 2019 Motion in the Sky. PDF
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The University of Oklahoma *
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Course
1514
Subject
Astronomy
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
Pages
4
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Activity 1
Name: Gabriela Sanchez
Motion in the Sky & Seasons
Group Members: Charley
Garcia, Arine Mkhitaryan,
Tyler Watkins
Section: 1514-15
Date: Aug 30, 2022
1) Say you are chilling on the North Pole with all the polar bears. Do the stars
move counterclockwise or clockwise around the North Star, or do the stars
rise and set? At the North Pole, the North Star is located directly overhead,
what is this point called? How would the motion of the stars change at the
South Pole?
The stars that go around the North Star go counterclockwise. And the motion
of the stars in the South Pole go the opposite way because it’s in southern
hemisphere.
2)
Now, let’s move to the equator, so we can bust out our Hawaiian shirts. At the
equator, do the stars move clockwise, counterclockwise, or do they rise and
set? Are there any circumpolar stars at the equator? Why or why not?
At the equator, the stars rise and set you see different stars because they
move and go beneath your horizon line. No because there are only
circumpolar stars in the North Pole and South Pole.
3) What are the four reasons that stars appear to move across the night sky?
Which of these reasons are long-term effects? Make sure to explain how each
reason affects the motion of the stars!
Rotation- the Earth is always moving, Revolution- The earth moving around
the sun, Precession- the earth spinning like a top but takes forever for it to
spin a full circle, Intrinsic motion- Stars moving on their own. The long term
one would be Precession.
4)
Which two planets are the “inferior” planets? Explain what retrograde
motion is and what causes retrograde motion.
Mercury and Venus. Retrograde
motion is caused because the earth moves faster than the other 2 planets and it's
when one of the planets go in a loop in its track and then keeps going on its same
track.
5)
Say that you want to visit Alaska in the summer for vacation. Alaska is located
at latitude of 70 degrees North. In the horizon coordinate system, the ]igure below is
an imaginary semicircle that runs from North to South. Draw and label the following
using the ]igure below (angles can be approximate). Use the back of the page if you
need to.
a.
Label where the observer is and draw a line from the observer to the
zenith. Make sure to label the zenith.
b.
Draw and label a line from the observer to the North Star. Write the
appropriate angle of altitude from the horizon on the diagram.
c.
Draw and label a line from the observer marking the celestial equator,
and write the altitude of the celestial equator on the diagram.
KEY-
Orange- Zenith 70 degrees
Blue- 20 degrees lat
Green- -70 degrees
d. Lastly, in the box below, draw and label where the North Star is
located (at the correct altitude approximately), and draw the motion
of the stars with arrows (remember that some stars will be
circumpolar).
N
S
1
4) Using the ]igure above, at which position is it summer in the Northern
Hemisphere? What about the Southern Hemisphere?
1 is the Summer sun in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern
hemisphere is number 3.
5) At which location are the Suns’ rays more direct for the Northern
Hemisphere? What about the Southern Hemisphere? Looking at just
locations 2 & 4, which one has more direct sunlight, or are they equal?
W
E
2
3
4
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Number one gets more sun rays in the northern. Number 3 gets more sun in
the southern. They are both equal because of the way the sun is positioned.
6) In the Northern Hemisphere, at which location is the sun highest in the sky?
How does this affect the seasons?
Number 1 because its summer. It creates warmer weather because the sun rays are
stronger and blazing stronger at the sun.
7) What is one common misconception about what causes the seasons? Why
does this reason not explain the seasons?
That the seasons change from the distance of earth from the sun. And that is
incorrect because there is not enough of a difference because the tilt is not changing
its the direction in which the earth is facing the sun.