Lab8ASTR - astronomy lab PDF

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ASTR 1030 Planets Lab with Stellarium Name: _______Marney Jones________________ Section # ___R51________ Purpose: Using the PC planetarium program ”Stellarium”, you will use the program to find the planets in the current sky, then go outside and observe and report on them. Procedure: This assignment makes use of the free Planetarium software called Stellarium, found at www.stellarium.org. Print out the Stellarium help file (window F1) and refer to it as you work through this assignment. You are asked to save this assignment as an RTF file and submit in the drop box. Set the location for reasonably close to your observing site, using the location window F6. Scroll down or use the world arrow key to choose the site. Note the latitude and longitude chosen, and post this info to your data sheet. 1. Location: __________Harriman, Tn, 37748____________________ 2. Latitude: ___35___ deg. ___55__ min. (N/S?) __N___ 3. Longitude: __84____ deg. __33___ min. (E/W?) __W___ Set the FOV (with mouse wheel) to approximately 100 degrees and face South. Turn on the constellations with F4, choosing markings: check constellation figures (v), names (c), and boundaries (b). Turn off the atmosphere (the A key). This will make the background constellation behind the Sun readable. Turn on the ecliptic line (the comma key). Use the up/ down arrows to center the ecliptic on the screen. Open the date and time box and move it to the upper right corner of your screen. Set the time for noon today. Adjust the time until the Sun is highest, about noon, while facing due south. 4. Date of Observations (month, day, and year): _____March 10th ______ ___2019______ 5. Record the name of the constellation in which the Sun resided: ______Aquarius _________ 6. Record the Sun’s Right Ascension and Declination by clicking on it. RA: _23_ hours _23_ minutes

Declination: -3__ degrees _55_ minutes (N/S?) SW

7. Now let’s look along the ecliptic to find the planets visible in the sky this evening and tomorrow morning; indicate what constellation and position they were in, then if they are far enough away from the sun’s glare, observe them and report your observations below. Moon was in _______Cetus__________ at RA _2_ h _28_m, Dec. _9_ deg __06’ I observed it at ______5:30pm_____ and its phase was ________waxing crescent _______________.

ASTR 1030 Observe the Planets with Stellarium

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Mercury was in __________Pisces_______ at RA _23 h _45__m, Dec. _2_deg., _24 Was it too close to sun to observe currently? ____yes___ If so, skip to Venus, if not, I observed it at __________ looking in the direction ______________________________. How easy was it to observe? ______________________________________________________ Venus was in ________Capricorn_______________ at RA _20_ h _53_m, Dec. _-17__deg., _15 Was it too close to sun to observe currently? ___yes____ If so, skip to Mars, if not, I observed it at __________ looking in the direction ______________________________. How easy was it to observe? ______________________________________________________ Mars was in __________Aries_______________ at RA __2_ h _55_m, Dec. _17__deg., _29__ Was it too close to sun to observe currently? _____No____ If so, skip to Jupiter, if not, I observed it at __________ looking in the direction _________________________. How easy was it to observe? ________________Based on Stellarium, Mars was not too close to the sun, however, I was unable to see it. _________________________ Jupiter was in ______Ophiuchus_____________ at RA _17__ h __29__m, Dec. _-22_deg., _37 Was it too close to sun to observe currently? _yes____ If so, skip to Venus, if not, I observed it at __________ looking in the direction ______________________________. How easy was it to observe?____ ____not above horizon_______________________________ Saturn was in ________Sagittarius___________ at RA 19_ h __20_m, Dec. -21__deg., 43__ Was it too close to sun to observe currently? _yes____ If not, then I observed it at __________ looking in the direction ______________________________. How easy was it to observe? ______________not above horizon_________________________ Turn in the lab in the Planets Dropbox....