Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Announcements: Remember to scan your IDs; Waiting list; Previous class sumary; Top Hat email, website, and instructions.
Today's Topics: Chapter 2,
Discovering the Universe for Yourself
• How do we know the Earth spins? (Watch!)
• How do we know the Earth orbits the Sun?
• The reason for the seasons (Q).
• Important days: Solstices and equinoxes.
• The Celestial Sphere (poles, equator, ecliptic).
• Celestial coordinates (RA, declination).
• The local sky (horizon, zenith, altitude, azimuth), and angular sizes.
The Sky Tonight, and How It Changes
• Rising and setting; Exactly how long is a day?
• Changes in one night, from one day to the next.
Reading: Today's class summary; Ch. 2, Secs. 1-2 in the book; See also the lecture notes.
Spaceweather; APOD; Heavens-Above; Clear Sky Clock; Space Calendar; Sky & Telescope Sky at a Glance
