ASTB03H3 Lecture : Solar System

153 views5 pages

skyelk398

17 Feb 2012

School

Department

Course

Professor

For unlimited access to Class Notes, a Class+ subscription is required.

Document Summary

Knowing the distance between two places will give you the distance to the third point (the planet) One distance to mars is known, other distances. Radius of earth"s orbit = astronomical unit = 150 million km. If you know how wide a planet looks you can use that information to find out it"s distance. Jupiter is constantly eclipsing the moons and vice versa. When people watch jupiter over time, the moons are supposed to regularly go behind jupiter and reappear but over the course of the year, the eclipses occur earlier than expected and vice versa. So changes are a result of light having to travel further to reach earth as earth moves in weight and high magnification. Putting it on a stand to make to easier to use. Mounts (stands) that are tilted on an angle. Rather than having telescope swing two ways, you have it swing one way which makes it easier to track things.

Related Questions

Astronomy Parallax Lab

SCENARIO: Your lab group is planning an expedition to measure the distance to Mars by carefully measuring its position in the sky from two locations simultaneously when it is next at “opposition” (that is, when it is exactly opposite from the sun in the sky) on October 13, 2020. For the best, and most straightforward distance determination with the parallax method, Mars should be high in the sky (as near to your zenith as possible). This can be done by observing Mars: (a) from locations whose LATITUDES are similar to the DECLINATION of Mars at the date of measurement and (b) at the time of night when Mars is highest in the sky.

1a). Determine the Sky Coordinates of Mars on the date of opposition. The relevant coordinate is the Declination (RA/DE J2000 coordinates should be used) – this is the sky coordinate analogous to Latitude on the Earth’s surface. (Note, it is ok to determine these coordinates for Mars from anywhere on Earth for this initial measurement)

Mars DECLINATION on October 13, 2020: ___________________________

Your lab team needs to send observers to two cities that:

(a) have latitudes that are similar to the declination of Mars on that date (within 20 degrees); and

(b) have nearly the same longitude (that is, are nearly due North-South from each other (hint, you will need to go close to the equator!).

1b). Choose two of the cities below and use google maps, google earth or another online resource to record their names and Latitudes.

Melbourne, Australia	Kampala, Uganda	Tokyo, Japan
Omaha, NE, USA	Mumbai, Italy	Khartoum, Soudan

1c). At what time should you measure the sky coordinates (right ascension and declination) to get the most accurate possible parallax distance?

plumantelope954

ASTB03H3 Lecture : Solar System

Document Summary

Get access

Related Documents

ASTB03H3 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Achromatic Lens, Emission Spectrum, Right Ascension

ASTB03H3 Study Guide - Final Guide: Spectroscopy, Deferent And Epicycle, Almagest

AST101H1 Chapter Notes -Sample-Return Mission, Galilean Moons, Milky Way

Related Questions