My Astronomy Class - Stellarium Activity

[Ad Astra]

Hello Folks!

My astronomy class is studying the Moon's orbit this week. One of the most difficult concepts to teach is the idea of apparent motion (also called diurnal motion), and celestial or orbital motion. When we watch the Moon through an evening, we see that it moves from East to West, just as the Sun, stars, and all the planets do. However, experienced astronomers know that the Moon orbits with eastward motion, quite the opposite of its apparent motion across the sky each evening.

I used to do this lab in the live sky, having students sketch the Western horizon, and then plot the Moon's position each day for 7-10 days after New Moon. However, we find that the waxing Moon's brightness washes out the sky and makes constellations hard to see as the Moon gets brighter each night!

We now do this lab on Stellarium, using it to sketch the ecliptic and the constellations that border it - then advancing the time by one day increments and charting the Moon's position. The Eastward orbital motion will become clear to you. Want to see the westward diurnal motion? Just advance the hours instead of days, and you will see the normal nightly motion as you expect.

Have a go and let me know how you do!

Cheers!

Dan

Lab 3 - Tracking the Rising Moon.doc