Class was held in the computer lab. Lunar Eclipse diagrams and details were discussed. Students went to the NASA Eclipse Website and found a solar eclipse sometime in this century and then “found” it on Stellarium. Using this Solar Eclipse Stellarium Activity (may need to print it out) fill in the data and sketch the diagrams for your eclipse.
Eclipse of 2017, South Carolina, 5 minutes before totality
Map for above, click on image to enlarge
Short periods for PSSAs. Period 1 watches Part III of “To the Moon” up to the point where Apollo 11 launches. Period 7 uses Stellarium to investigate the Moon phases in April 2011 (phases, dates, and time of Moon rise and Moon set). Notebook quiz tomorrow for all classes and marking period ends on 3-31-11. Can you explain why the Moon rises in this phase on 4-8-11 at just after 9:30 am EST? Where is the Moon in its orbit around the Earth?
Stellarium view of the Moon 4-8-11
Students completed the activity (pdf) on the seasonal positions of the sun using Stellarium. Below is the sun on the spring equinox in York at solar noon. How could you calculate the angle of the sun without seeing the diagram? Tomorrow we will be in the planetarium.
Short periods due to 2 hour delay. Students began work on sky domes. We will return to work on Stellarium tomorrow and then to the planetarium on Friday. Homework by Friday: Read about the 5 circumpolar constellations (p.4 in your notes) in the SkyGuide and add 3 to 4 items to p.4 about each of them. An example of one item for Ursa Major – Dubhe, the pointer star closest to Polaris, is 104 lt-yrs away and means “bear” in Arabic)