TEAM NUMBER ______ Name: ________________________________ Student Number: __________________ Name: ________________________________ Student Number: __________________ Name: ________________________________ Student Number: __________________ Name: ________________________________ Student Number: __________________ Name: ________________________________ Student Number: __________________GOALS
TEAMWORK
You must work cooperatively with your teammates, with
each person involved in making some of the observations. You may not
exclude any assigned members. If you have difficulty reaching a member of
your team, please see an instructor. The Team will be assigned one grade,
but consistent (poor or outstanding) Peer Evaluation Forms (attached) may
change an individual's grade. How you organize yourselves is up to you, but
arrangements like rotating responsibility to decide if the sky is
clear enough to observe would be a good idea.
PROCEDURE
Record, over the course of three weeks, the position
and appearance of the Moon with respect to the stars and constellations
(not the horizon!). You MUST start this project immediately! Take
advantage of every clear night, because there usually aren't very
many. During the course of this three week period your Team should
make at least four observations on different days. Observations
on consecutive days are best, if the weather permits.
(1) Find an observing site that is convenient and clear of large obstructions to the east, south and west. You can make your observations from the different places and at different times.
(2) Observe the Moon every clear night it is visible in the evening
sky.
For each night record the: (a) Date, (b) Time, (c)
Location of the Moon with respect to the bright STARS and
constellations (mark the position of the Moon on your sky map using the
stars and constellations as a guide), and (d) Sketch the
appearance of the Moon (showing how much was lit and the orientation of
the lit portion) on the sky map in its correct location and orientation
in relation to the stars and constellations, (not in relation to the
horizon). On one night observe the Moon twice, a few hours apart.
(3) We encourage you to bring your Skymap to class after the first observation and have it checked to make sure you are making and recording your observations correctly. Although it's OK to compare your Skymap to that of other Teams, be aware that the only way you can be sure of making acceptable observations is to do have more than one of your Team do it.
(4) At the end of this project hand in your Team Skymap (only one per Team!) and the answers to the following questions based on your observations. This means that if your answers are correct but not consistent with your Skymap, you will not receive full credit. The skymap is worth a total of 10 points, and each of the following questions is worth 1 point. The total project is weighted as two homeworks toward your total grade.
QUESTIONS
(1) In what direction does the Moon move with respect to the horizon in
the course of a few hours?
(2) In what direction does the Moon move with respect to the stars and constellations from day to day?
(3) How far in degrees (use your hand as described in the book to estimate) does the Moon move with respect to the stars in one day? (If you can not view the Moon on two successive days, divide the distance you saw the Moon move over several days by the number of days to get its motion per day.)
(4) At what time of day does the Full Moon rise?
(5) At what time of day does the First Quarter Moon rise?
(6) At what time of day does the Third Quarter Moon set?
Visions of the Universe
This page has been accessed times.