Synodic Period: type of period that depends on the orientation of a third body (i.e. the sun) o Mercury and Venus orbit inside Earth's orbit, so sometimes we see the side that faces away from the sun o Both are sometimes seen as crescents o Moon and Earth are inclined relatively to each other by 5 o New Moon is almost exactly between Earth and Sun o Waxing Crescent is a growing crescent o Waning Gibbous Moon is one week after the first quarter; full moon o Full moon will rise just after sun sets o Each day, this time will get 50min later o Three-quarter moon will rise at midnight o One-quarter moon will rise at noon o Seeing the unlit, "dark" side of the moon is a result of "earthshine" o Sidereal Period: moon revolves around the Earth every 27 1/3 relative to the stars o Because the Earth is moving partway around the sun, it takes more time for the moon to revolve around the sun ---> causes 29 1/2 day period CELESTIAL SPECTACLES: ECLIPSES o The moon usually passes above or below Earth's shadow at a full moon o The Earth usually passes above or below Moon's shadow at a new moon o There is a max of 7 eclipses a year: full or new moons that occur on the same plane as the Earth, resulting in a Lunar or Solar Eclipse o Total Lunar Eclipse: moon is entirely in Earth's shadow o Total Solar Eclipse: alignment of moon, sun, and earth must be precise; only a narrow band on Earth's surface can see it entirely. LUNAR ECLIPSES o Partial phase is when the Earth's shadow gradually covers the moon and lasts about an hour o The total phase can also last about an hour
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
o Blood-orange light is refracted around the moon
SOLAR ECLIPSES o Corona: hot, tenuous outer layer of sun; fainter than blue sky o Total solar eclipse "removes" blue effect o Solar Photosphere: disk of the sun; surface o Moon is 400x smaller than the sun, but also around 400x closer to Earth, so it compensates o Sun and moon almost cover the same angle in the sky (1/2 ) o Umbra: darkest part of the shadow o Penumbra: intermediate part of the shadow o Having only 1% of the photosphere visible allows us to see corona o Final minutes of partial phase ---> light passing through edges of the moon, giving a bead-like effect (known as "Baily's Beads") o Last part of the uneclipsed surface gives a "diamond ring" effect o At totality, corona is visible: streamers of gas along eclipse, finer plumes near poles, pink H gas o Annular Eclipse: moon doesnt completely cover the sun, so a ring, or annulus, of photosphere remains SURVEY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM o Venus is 70% distance from the sun o Mercury is closest; hot, gaseous particles move too quickly to be retained by a gravitational pull o Galileo sent back pictures of Jupiter and its moons, Cassini sent info about Saturn o Beyond Neptune, there are Kuiper-belt objects RETROGRADE MOTION o Stars move relative to each other o Sun and moon have constant rates/phases (moon track varies every 18 yrs) o Other planets appear as points in the sky o Mercury and Venus never get half or a quarter distance from the sun and can have retrograde motion by moving across the sun o Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be any distance from the sun, and go retrograde and appear brightest when they are opposite (farthest) from the sun o Middle of retrograde motion (loop) is directly opposite and the planet appears the brightest EARTH CENTERED MODEL OF ANCIENT GREECE o Prograde Motion: forward motion of planets (west --> east) with respect to background of stars, over course of weeks and months, moving slower than the sky o Retrograde Motion: a planet drifts in opposite direction (east --> west) o Greeks compared lengths of the periods of retrograde motion of different planets to solve for their distances o Aristotle: 350 BC, believed Earth was the center and everything worked mechanically o Ptolemy: 140 CE presented Geocentric theory; to account for retrograde motion, planets move in epicycles and deferents o This was problematic because close planets have bigger epicycles than larger planets (didnt make sense), and the predictions were not accurate, leading to a constant tweaking of numbers o Epicycle: small circles of orbit within the planet's larger orbit o Deferents: the large, overall orbit of a planet
o o
VIII.
IX.
X.
Equant: center of an epicycle; planet moves around this point
This theory was accepted for 15 centuries THE HERITICAL SUN CENTERED UNIVERSE o Copernicus: suggested heliocentric model 1510 CE; assumed planets move in perfect circles around the sun o Was a member of the Catholic Church, had thorough education (walked from Poland to Italy for University) o Published ideas after death to avoid consequences o Presented retrograde motion as an illusion; it appears to move backwards because Earth is on the inner track and moving faster o This theory is more accurate in making predictions o Church compromises to use formulas, but still believe the Earth is in the center TRANSIT OF VENUS o Venus crossed Sun's disk in 2004 and 2012 o Transit of Venus ---> scale of the solar system o "Black Drop" effect caused by inherent blurring and solar limb darkening ROTATION OF VENUS o 1961- radio waves penetrate Venus's clouds to determine how fast it rotates o 243 days in opposite direction relative to the stars and planets o 225 Earth days to revolve around the sun o Sun returns to same position in the Venus sky every 117 days