Friday, August 30, 2013
Announcements: Remember to bring your IDs. Any trouble signing up for Top Hat? (No leading 0s).
Next week: Observation?
News: Major fireball event, see spaceweather.
Today's Topics:
Motion of the Moon, in the Sky and in Space
• The Moon's phases; new, crescent, half, gibbous, full.
• Reason for phases; Are we seeing the Earth's shadow?
• Relationship between phases and the time of day (Q).
• Orbit: Near side, period (27.3 or 29.5 days?), distance.
• What are lunar eclipses and solar eclipses? Types.
• In what phase must the Moon be? (Q) Predictions?
Assignment: Go over today's class summary. Suggested reading: Chapter 2 of the book, and lecture notes.
Next time we may start with some Top Hat questions, and then we may begin talking about the history of astronomy (Chapter 3).
Spaceweather; APOD; Heavens-Above; Clear Sky Clock; Space Calendar; Sky & Telescope Sky at a Glance
