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Published byRoland Wood Modified over 9 years ago
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Announcements Homework Set 1 is due today Homework set 2: Chapter 2 # 46, 50, 52, 53 & 54 + Determine the number of kilometers in 1° of longitude at the equator, 36.5° latitude (Clarksville) and 50° latitude. Exam Formula Sheet will be updated this week. I still have to decide what we will be covering.
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Hint for homework problems # 52, 53 & 54 More small angle approximation
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Terrestrial Coordinates Longitude is measured CCW (+) or CW (-) around from Greenwich England Latitude is measured North or South of the equator Both are measured in degrees, minutes and seconds
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Celestial Coordinates The angle between the celestial equator and the ecliptic is 23.5 ° Right Ascension (RA) is measured CCW from the Vernal Equinox and is in hours, minutes and seconds Declination (Dec) is measured above (+) or below (-) the celestial equator and is in degrees, minutes and seconds See Appendix A6 for more on celestial coordinates
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Finding the CE and NCP at your latitude Altitude of NCP above due north horizon along the meridian is just , your latitude (+ for north, - for south) Altitude of the celestial equator above due south horizon along the meridian is 90°-
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Example Chapter 2 problem # 43: The Moon’s orbit is tilted by about 5° relative to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. What is the highest altitude in the sky that the Moon can reach, as seen in Philadelphia (latitude 40° North)?
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Example Solution What is being asked?...Maximum altitude of the Moon from 40° North latitude. What information is given?...latitude = 40° N Tilt angle of Moon from ecliptic = 5° Tilt angle of ecliptic from celestial equator = 23.5°
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Example Solution 2 Equation(s) to use: Refer to diagram two slides back. The altitude of the celestial equator above the local horizon is 90° - Latitude CE = 90° - 40° = 50° Maximum altitude of Ecliptic = CE + 23.5° = 50° + 23.5° = 73.5° Maximum altitude of Moon = Ecliptic Max + 5° = 73.5° + 5° = 78.5°
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Time and Astronomy The 24 Hour Day? One rotation of Earth = 1 sidereal day 23 hours 56 minutes 4.091 seconds This is the time required for the Earth to complete one rotation with respect to the fixed stars
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As the Earth rotates it also moves around the Sun. So, for the Sun to return to the same place in the sky the Earth must rotate a little more than one complete rotation
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Noon–to–noon isn’t always 24 hours
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The Mean Solar Day is exactly 24 hours. It is the time between meridian transits of the Sun averaged over four years
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The Year 1 orbit around the Sun = 365.2564 days The sidereal year 1 Tropical Year = 365.2422 mean solar days The time from Vernal equinox to Vernal equinox
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The early calendar: the Julian Calendar (Julius Caesar) Most years have 365 days. Years evenly divisible by 4 have 366 days. Add February 29 to those years. Slightly off so the calendar “drifted”
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Pope Gregory XIII’s Calendar The Gregorian Calendar (1582) Most years have 365 days Years evenly divisible by 4 have 366 days except century years. Only century years evenly divisible by 400 are leap years
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Precession of the Equinox Like a spinning gyroscope, the Earth precesses. The period of the precession is 25,920 years
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The Precession of the Equinox leads to a shift of the celestial pole
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It also shifts the constellations of the zodiac
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