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[03] The Night Sky (9/5/17)

Upcoming Items

1.  Homework #1 due now!

2.  Read Ch. 2.2–2.3 and
do self-study quizzes
3.  Homework #2 due in
one week.

https://iso.500px.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/11834033-1170.jpeg
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LEARNING GOALS
Chapter 2.1

For this class, you should be able to…

…  convert from radians to degrees/minutes/
seconds of arc, and vice versa;
…  describe the basic components of the
celestial sphere (poles and equator, and
ecliptic), your local sky (altitude, azimuth/
direction, horizon, zenith, meridian), and
your place on Earth (latitude, longitude).
…  sketch how stars appear to move in the
sky throughout the night and year
depending on your location on Earth.
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What is the arrow pointing at?

A.  The zenith.
B.  The north celestial pole.
C.  The celestial equator.
You observe a star rising due east. When this star reaches
its highest position above the horizon, where will it be?
A.  High in the northern sky.
B.  High in the eastern sky.
C.  High in the southern sky.
D.  High in the western sky.
E.  Directly overhead.

NOTE: this is for an observer in the northern hemisphere.

In which direction is the photographer facing? (Assume
they are in the northern hemisphere.)
A.  North.
B.  East.
C.  West.
In which direction is the photographer facing? (Assume
they are in the northern hemisphere.)
A.  North.
B.  East.
C.  West.
Imagine you are standing in the northern hemisphere.
Looking directly north, you see a star just above the
horizon. A little later you notice that it has shifted position
slightly. Which way did it move?
A.  To the right (east).
B.  To the left (west).
C.  Up (rising).
D.  Down (setting).
You are looking toward the north and see the Big Dipper to
the right of the North Star. Fifteen minutes later, the Big
Dipper will appear to have moved in roughly what
direction?
A.  East (to your right).
B.  West (to your left).
C.  Up (away from the horizon).
D.  Down (closer to the horizon).
How much time is there between when a star rises and
when it sets?
A.  Less than twelve hours.
B.  About twelve hours.
C.  More than twelve hours.
D.  It depends on the star.
What about other locations?
•  Are there locations on the Earth where ALL stars rise and
set? Where?
•  Are there locations on the Earth where NO stars rise and
set? Where?
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•  The first picture (1) shows

(1) the horizon as you see it
one morning. Pictures 2
and 3 show the same
horizon at two different
later points in time. Which
occurred first, 2 or 3?
(2)
A.  2.
B.  3.
C.  They show the same time.
D.  It is impossible to tell.

(3)
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The Night Sky

•  The night sky is mostly stars, grouped in constellations.
•  The celestial sphere is the projection of Earth’s surface on
the night sky. Special points are the poles and equator.
•  The Sun & planets lie in the ecliptic tilted 23.5° to equator.
•  Objects in the local sky are located by their altitude and
azimuth (direction), relative to horizon, zenith, & meridian.
•  Objects on Earth are located by their latitude & longitude.
•  Over the course of one night, stars rise in the east, transit
the meridian, and set in the west due to Earth’s rotation.
•  Over the course of one year, different stars are visible at
night because of Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
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What does the night sky look like?

•  With the naked eye,
we can see more
than 2000 stars, as
well as the Milky
Way.
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What are constellations?

•  A constellation is a
region of the sky.

•  88 constellations fill
the entire sky (north
& south).

SkyGazer 5
http://in-the-sky.org/skymap.php
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Why Constellations?
•  Constellations are traditional groupings of stars that are
near each other in the sky.
•  In modern astronomy, the sky is divided into 88 jigsaw
puzzle pieces that fill the sky.
•  But they don’t have to have particular meaning.
•  For example, is it necessarily true that all stars in a
constellation are physically near each other?
•  Constellations are fun (Greek mythology!), but mostly they
aren’t useful in professional astronomy
•  Instead, we use a system similar to latitude and longitude:
the celestial sphere
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The Celestial Sphere

•  Stars at different
distances all appear
to lie on the celestial
sphere.

•  The 88 official
constellations cover
the celestial sphere.
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How Could We Set Up Coordinates?

•  This will be a group question for discussion.
•  If the Earth did not rotate and remained fixed relative to the
distant stars, then we could define directions to the stars
once and for all: draw the line between the star and the
center of the Earth, and assign the star the same latitude
and longitude as where that line intersects Earth’s surface.
Does that make sense?
•  But in reality (1) the Earth rotates, (2) even the direction of
Earth’s rotational axis changes over thousands of years,
and (3) the stars do move over long times.
•  For your group question: how could you deal with this? If
you want to identify the direction to a star, what do you do?
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The Celestial Sphere

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The Celestial Sphere

•  The Ecliptic is the
Sun's apparent path
through the celestial
sphere.
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The Celestial Sphere

•  North celestial pole
is directly above
Earth's North Pole.

•  South celestial pole

is directly above
Earth's South Pole.

•  Celestial equator is
a projection of
Earth's equator onto
sky.
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The Milky Way

•  A band of light
making a circle
around the celestial
sphere.

What is it?
•  Our view into the
plane of our galaxy.
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The Milky Way

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The Local Sky

•  An object’s altitude (above horizon) and direction (along
horizon) specify its location in your local sky.
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The Local Sky

•  Meridian: line
passing through
zenith and
connecting N and S
points on horizon.

•  Zenith: the point •  Horizon: all points

directly overhead. 90° away from
zenith.
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We measure the sky using angles…

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Angular Measurements
Full circle = 360º.
1º = 60ʹ (arcminutes or arcmin).
1ʹ = 60ʺ (arcseconds or arcsec).
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Thought Question
The angular size of your finger at arm’s length is about 1°.
How many arcseconds is this?

A.  60 arcseconds.
B.  600 arcseconds.
C.  60×60 = 3,600 arcseconds.
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Thought Question
The angular size of your finger at arm’s length is about 1°.
How many arcseconds is this?

A.  60 arcseconds.
B.  600 arcseconds.
C.  60×60 = 3,600 arcseconds.

I.e., 1 deg × 60 arcmin/deg × 60 arcsec/arcmin = 3,600 arcsec.

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Why do stars rise and set?

•  Earth rotates west to east,

so stars appear to circle
from east to west.
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What moves? Earth or sky?

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Our view from Earth

•  Stars near the north celestial pole are circumpolar and
never set.
•  We cannot see stars near the south celestial pole.
•  All other stars (and Sun, Moon, planets) rise in east and
set in west.

A circumpolar Celestial
star never sets equator

This star Your

never rises horizon
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Why do the constellations we see depend

on latitude and time of year?
•  They depend on latitude because your position on Earth
determines which constellations remain below the
horizon.
•  They depend on time of year because Earth's orbit
changes the apparent location of the Sun among the
stars.
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Coordinates on Earth
•  Latitude: position north or south of equator.
•  Longitude: position east or west of prime meridian (runs
through Greenwich, England).
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The sky varies with latitude but not with

longitude.
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Altitude of the celestial pole = your latitude

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Thought Question
The North Star (Polaris) is 50° above your horizon, due
north. Where are you?

A.  You are on the equator.

B.  You are at the North Pole.
C.  You are at latitude 50°N.
D.  You are at longitude 50°E.
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Thought Question
The North Star (Polaris) is 50° above your horizon, due
north. Where are you?

A.  You are on the equator.

B.  You are at the North Pole.
C.  You are at latitude 50°N.
D.  You are at longitude 50°E.
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The sky varies as Earth orbits.

•  As the Earth orbits the Sun, the Sun appears to move
east along the ecliptic.
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Question for Group Discussion

•  We noted that the stars appear to move due to Earth’s
rotation.
•  But the Earth also orbits around the Sun.
•  Why haven’t we focused on the effect that has on the
apparent direction to stars?
Will it have any effect?
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Review
•  Sketch how stars appear to move in the sky throughout
the night and year.
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Also see Chapter S1: Celestial

Timekeeping and Navigation
Celestial Coordinates
•  Positions in sky measured using two angles:
•  Declination δ (celestial latitude): position above (+) or below (–)
celestial equator, in degrees.
•  Right ascension (RA) α (celestial longitude): position “east” of the
vernal equinox, where ecliptic crosses equator going north (“up”).
•  Measured in hours, not degrees (1 h = 15 deg). Why? Intimate
association between time, longitude, and RA—see next slides!
•  By definition, at local noon “on” the vernal equinox (around March 21),
the Sun has coordinates α = 0h, δ = 0°.
•  E.g., the North Star (Polaris) currently has celestial coordinates
α = 02h31m48.7s, δ = +89°15ʹ51ʺ.
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Earth’s True Rotation Period

•  The average time between local noon and the next local
noon is the “mean solar day” = 24 hours exactly.
•  But that’s not Earth’s true rotation period! Why?
•  During the course of a day, Earth moves a little bit (~1 deg) along
its orbit, so Earth must rotate a little bit more to bring the Sun back
to the same point in the sky.
•  True sidereal period ≅ 23h 56m 4s.
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