Lab 5 - tracking the night sky PDF

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tracking the night sky...

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Lab 5: Tracking the Night Sky PART 1

1) Polaris is located on the Prime Meridian. The altitude is about 37° 2) Yes, the altitude matches the location’s latitude. 3) The constellation was named after “the vain queen Cassiopeia” who was in Greek mythology and talked excessively about her beauty.

4) In 24 hours, the “W” rotates in 4 different directions, creating w, m, 3, and E shapes. 5) They move counter-clockwise.

6) Polaris seems to have staying the same place the whole 24 hours. 7) Sagittarius is moving in a clockwise pattern. 8) No, there are no stars that stay in the same position in the south. 9) The star would set southwest. 10) If a star rises East, it sets in the west, just like the sun. 11) North is when the Sky is the highest. Make Prediction I feel like it would take about a day for a constellation to get back to same location. After 24 hours, the constellation, Aquarius, seemed to be slightly shifted at around the same location. PART 2 1) Stars that rise in the East, are at their highest in the South. 2) M22 is due south at midnight on July 1st. 3) Sirius will be due south at 9 pm on February 15 4) Around 9:50 or 10 pm 5) Counter-clockwise 6) Clock-wise 7)a. On October 1st, Orion’s belt will rise at 11 pm. b. You would need to look Southeast to see it rising. c. Yes, Orion will still be up before the sunrises. d. You would need to look in the south. 8)a. You would need to look northwest. b. Altair will set first in the West at about 11:30 on November 1st. c. Deneb will set last in the northwest at about 2:50 or 3 am on November 1st.

9) a. You should look in the northwest. b. It will set at about 10:30 pm. c. You should look west. d. The Pleiades will set at about 12am 10) a. You should look for Mizar and Alcor in the Northeast. 11) a. Antares will rise at 8pm on June 21st. b. It will rise towards East or southeast. c. It will set at about 5am d. It will set in the Southwest/west. PART 3 1) The right ascension value increases from East to west. 2) The range of RA is 0h- 23h 3) I think RA is measured in hours. 4) The hours are used to measure RA because the Earth fully rotates in 24 hours to complete a day and it could also be used to keep track which stars appear at certain times. 5) 1. 0h 2. 3h 3. 6h 4. 9h 5. 12h 6. 15h 7. 18h 8. 21h 6) These numbers represent the declination.They are measured in degrees. 7) In the southern half, I see 10°- 60°. 8) Rigel: RA= 5h 15m Dec: 9° 9) Vega: RA: 18h 30m Dec: 39° 10) The stars rise in the East and set in the west. 11) Northwest

12) 90° 13) The altitude of the NCP is 90°...