May
Visions of the Universe
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Visions of the Universe
{ Updated: }
Name: __________________________
Student Number: ________________
Other Group Members
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GOALS
TEAMWORK
You may work individually or cooperatively with a team. If in a team,
each person involved must make some of the observations. 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 four 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 four week period you 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). Label which is dark and which is light on one of the
drawings. On one night observe the Moon twice, a few hours apart.
(3) I 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 each person hand in a Skymap. (If in a team some items will of course be copied from the person making the observations.) Answer 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) At what time of day does the Full Moon rise?
(4) At what time of day does the First Quarter Moon rise?
(5) At what time of day does the Third Quarter Moon set?
Visions of the Universe
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