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Lecture 2
Motions in the Sky
January 2b, 2014
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Yearly Motions
• The Earth travels around the Sun once every
year.
• The Earth is tilted by 23.5 degrees with
respect to the orbital plane.

E
E E

E
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What is a Day?

• Solar Day = amount of time for Earth

to rotate once on its axis with respect
to the Sun.
• Sidereal day = amount of time for
Earth to rotate once with respect to
the stars.
– Shorter than solar day by 4 minutes.

• Since solar and sidereal days are

NOT the same, a star will typically
rise ~4 minutes earlier each day.
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The star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major crosses our

meridian at 10:30 pm on January 23. When will it cross the
meridian one month (30 days) later?
A. 8:30 pm
B. 10:14 pm
C. 10:26 pm
D. 10:30 pm
E. 12:30 am

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The star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major crosses our

meridian at 10:30 pm on January 23. When will it cross the
meridian one month (30 days) later?
A. 8:30 pm Stars rise 4 minutes earlier each day,
B. 10:14 pm so Sirius will rise 120 minutes earlier
C. 10:26 pm after one month has passed.
D. 10:30 pm
E. 12:30 am
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• The Sun lines up with different constellations

during the year.
Presently

These stars are overhead during the

day. Sun is too bright to see them.

These stars are visible at night.

6 months later
These stars are visible at
night.

These stars are overhead during the

day. Sun is too bright to see them
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Ecliptic
• Path of the sun
through the
celestial sphere.
• Not aligned
with Celestial
Equator due to
tilt of the Earth
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Zodiac
• The 13 constellations through which the sun
passes during the course of a year.
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The Real Signs of the Zodiac

Constellation Traditional Actual (2000) Days
Capricornus Dec. 22-Jan. 21 Jan. 21-Feb. 16 26
Aquarius Jan. 22-Feb. 21 Feb. 16-Mar. 11 24
Pisces Feb. 22-Mar. 21 Mar. 11-Apr. 18 38
Aries Mar. 22-Apr. 21 Apr. 18-May 13 25
Taurus Apr. 22-May 21 May 13-June 22 40
Gemini May 22-June 21 June 22-July 21 29
Cancer June 22-July 21 July 21-Aug. 10 20
Leo July 22-Aug. 21 Aug. 10-Sept. 16 37
Virgo Aug. 22-Sept. 21 Sept. 16-Oct. 31 45
Libra Sept. 22-Oct. 21 Oct. 31-Nov. 23 23
Scorpius Oct. 22-Nov. 21 Nov. 23-Nov. 29 6
Ophiuchus Nov. 29-Dec. 18 19
Sagittarius Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Dec. 18-Jan. 21 34
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Planetary Motion

The planets all move in

the same plane about
the Sun so they all
appear to move along
the ecliptic.
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Parallax
• If you look at an object from two different
places (but at same distance) it will appear to
move with respect to the background.
• Change in position = parallax angle
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Parallax
• The greater the distance,
the smaller the parallax
angle
• The greater the baseline Distance
(distance from A to B), the Baseline
greater the parallax angle.

baseline (km)
parallax angle ()  57.3 
distance (km)
or
baseline (km)
distance (km)  57.3 
parallax angle ()
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• Review angular measures

• Parallax in-class activity

D 180 D
r  57.3
  
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Solstices and Equinoxes

• Solstice
– position in Earth’s orbit at which the Sun is
furthest from the Celestial Equator.
– Longest and shortest days of the year.
• Equinox
– position in Earth’s orbit at which the Sun
crosses the Celestial Equator.
– Day and Night are the same length.
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The Ecliptic (Path of the Sun) North Celestial Pole

Autumnal Equinox: Summer Solstice:

Sun reaches highest point
Sun crosses Celestial
in sky for N. Hemisphere.
Equator. (September 21)
(June 21)

Winter Solstice:
Sun at lowest point in
sky for N. Hemisphere.
(December 21) Vernal Equinox:
Sun crosses Celestial
Equator. (March 21)

Celestial Equator Ecliptic South Celestial Pole

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Suppose your latitude is 45°N. What is the Sun’s

elevation above the southern horizon at noon on the
summer solstice?
A. 45.0°
B. 23.5°
C. 68.5°
D. 105°

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Suppose your latitude is 45°N. What is the Sun’s

elevation above the southern horizon at noon on the
summer solstice?
A. 45.0° The celestial equator is tilted at an
angle equal to your latitude from the zenith.
B. 23.5°
In this case, the celestial equator is 45°
C. 68.5°
from your zenith and therefore 45° above
D. 105° the southern horizon. The Sun is 23.5° above
the celestial equator on the summer solstice.
Therefore the Sun is 23.5°  45°  68.5°
above the southern horizon.
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Celestial Coordinates
• Declination (DEC): Degree north (+)
or south (−) of the Celestial Equator.
Similar to latitude.
North Celestial Pole
60° 90°

30°
Celestial Equator

0°

−30° South Celestial Pole

−60°
−90°
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• Right Ascension (RA): Position east or

west of the position of the Sun at the Vernal
Equinox. Similar to longitude.
– Sky split into 24 hours such that 1 hour = 15°
North Celestial Pole
As the Earth rotates
the sky appears to Ecliptic
move through 1 hour
of RA each hour
Celestial Equator

Position of Sun at
Vernal Equinox

22hr 23hr 0hr 1hr 2hr

South Celestial Pole
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What is the right ascension of a star that is on the

meridian at midnight on the summer solstice?
A. 0 h 0 min
B. 6 h 0 min
C. 12 h 0 min
D. 18 h 0 min

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What is the right ascension of a star that is on the

meridian at midnight on the summer solstice?
A. 0 h 0 min At the summer solstice
B. 6 h 0 min the R.A. of the Sun is 6 h 0 min.
C. 12 h 0 min A star at midnight is exactly
D. 18 h 0 min 12 h from the Sun, so its
R.A. is 18 h 0 min .
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The Seasons
• The Seasons are due to the tilt of the Earth with
respect to the orbital plane.
– Not distance from the Sun.
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Why are the seasons warm and cold?

• During the Summer the sun is higher in the sky
so the light is more direct.
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Why are the seasons warm and cold?
• Sun is above the horizon longer in the summer.
• This interactive exercise shows the Sun’s path through the sky
from two perspectives.
• This animation depicts the Sun’s eastward journey along the
ecliptic, and shows it is highest in the sky during the summer.
Try slowing the speed control way down at first.
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Earth in June (Summer Solstice)

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Earth in December (Winter Solstice)

Animation
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Precession
• Discovered by Hipparchus (~150 BC)
• Position of North Celestial Pole changes on
Celestial Sphere over time.

• Earth’s spin axis

points to
different
locations on the
celestial sphere
over time.
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What causes precession?

• The Earth experiences a slow wobble due to
the gravitational tugs of the Moon and Sun.
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Precession Observations
• One full precession period = 26,000 years.
– The yellow circle is the
path of the north celestial
pole through the
constellations.
– Thuban = 3000 BC
– Polaris = Present
– Vega = 14,000 AD