Stellarium Planetarium Project, science homework help

Stellarium Planetarium ProjectSoftwareInstallationStellarium is freeplanetarium software that runs on many different operating systems. You should download the appropriate versionfor your computer. Go to the followingwebsite: http://www.stellarium.org/ andread the basic information about the program and what is included in the latestversion. The User's Guide provides agood walk-through for the preliminaries like controls, features and 'settinghome location'. You will need to consultthe Users Guide to figure out how to do many of the tasks given below. For example, the time flow icons and shortcutkeys are described there. Youll needsome practice to learn how to use them.Ive tried to put quite a few details into the instructions (short-cutkeys, etc.), but you will still encounter things that youll need to figure outon your own, so be prepared to consult the Users Guide for some things.After the software is installed and tested, we need to setour geographic location. The top icon onthe left toolbar (or shortcut key F6) will take you to the locationwindow. Although there are hundreds ofcities around the world listed in the window, you may not find your own citylisted there. So we must input a citymanually and save it to the list. Type your city or UMUC Adelphi into the Name/City box and your geographiccoordinates and elevation into the latitude (N 38 59 10.032) and longitude (W 76 57 17.208) and altitude (46m) boxes. Check the Use as default boxand click on the Add to List button.This will add your city or Adelphi to your cities list.This project consists of three sets ofActivities. Activity I isdesigned for this home location. (All instructions refer to the Stellariumvirtual sky unless otherwise stated.)Activity I: [14 Points]Note that Stellariumwill come up in the full-screen mode. Ifyou wish to move back and forth from this document to Stellarium, press the F11key to display the window in partial screen mode so that you can jump back andforth by using the icons on your bottom toolbar.Step 1. View the sky at the home location for the cases: daylight on, daylight off, light pollution onand off; comment briefly on the differences that you see.Daylight is toggled on and off with the Sun icon on bottomtoolbar (a key shortcut). Lightpollution is controlled in the Sky and Viewing Options window (icon or F4key). It goes from 1 (no lightpollution) to 9 (severe light pollution, such as downtown Baltimoreor New York City). The default starting value is 3. When you turn the ground off, youll see aband of fog across the screen. This canbe turned off under Landscape in the same F4 window (f key shortcut) [2]Step 2. Play around with the view by dragging the field of view up and down tolook at higher and lower angles; drag the sky left and right to view directionsother than the starting south. (Thearrow keys also change the viewing direction.)Zoom in and out with the mouse wheel or with the page up and downkeys. Comment on the changes. [2]Step 3. Try differenttime flows and different times of the day and comment briefly on thechanges. The right and left arrowbuttons on the bottom menu are used to flow the time. Additional clicks speed up the time. The down arrow in the menu steps the flowbackward and repeats. [2]Step 4. Try to locatethe following and note on your report what you had to do to find them. Hint:Mercury and Venus are always near the Sun, so if it is daylight, turnthat off with the atmosphere icon in the bottom toolbar or the a key. Make an entry for each object, explainingbriefly the steps that you took to find the object. To search for an object, click the SearchWindow button on the left menu or press F3.If an object is below the horizon, remove the ground (bottom menu orlower case g) or flow the time backward or forward until the object isvisible. Make anindividual entry for each of the objects below.Planets Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter, the star Sirius ( CMaor Canis Majoris), one red giant star (a K or M star of luminosity class III),and one main sequence star (luminosity class V). To find the red giant and main-sequencestar, you will need to pick out bright stars and click on them to see theirinformation boxes. (Do not use the Sun or Sirius as your main sequencestar.) An information box in theupper left of the window will give the stars name (for bright stars)constellation designation (you can also turn on constellation boundaries andlabels by clicking the appropriate icons in the bottom toolbar) and otherinformation. Spectral types andluminosity classes are given near the bottom of the box. Luminosity class goes from VI (subdwarfs[rare]) to supergiants (I). Thefollowing classes are present:VI: subdwarfs; V(dwarfs); IV (subgiants); III (giants); II (bright giants); I (supergiants).Identify the stars by their proper names and their Bayer (Greek letter) and/or Flamsteed (Arabic number) designations. Do not identify themexclusively by HIP number, although you can include that if youwish. We will learn more about whatmain-sequence stars and red giants are in Module 5). [6]All bright stars have designationsthat end in constellation name; e.g., Col. However, there has to be a Greek letter orsome other character ahead of Col;or, the object must have a formal name like Sirius, Vega, etc. In your case, the HIP number tells me thatthe star is  Columbae with a spectral type of B5 V.Step 5. View the constellations and locate a bright star inyour favorite constellation. Since many of you are doing this as a familyproject, I am leaving you some freedom and choices here. Be sure to identify the constellation and thestar chosen. Choose a bright star thathas a proper name and/or a Bayer and/or Flamsteed designation. A Bayer designation is a Greek letter namesuch as  Orionis. A Flamsteeddesignation is an Arabic number name such as 58 Orionis. When we combine these names, we get adesignation like 58 () Orionis. Thisstar (like many other bright stars) has the proper name Betelgeuse. Any star designation must have aconstellation designation (genitive form or 3-letter abbreviation) appended toit to be valid. Note that stars with Bayer designationsin Stellarium do not have Flamsteed identifiers present. [2]Activity II.Planetarium Exercises [70]At the end of eachexercise, we will quit the program so that when we execute it for the nextactivity, it will start with the default time and values. You should have a Stellarium icon on your desktop to make executioneasier. You can use the Windows Explorerto create a desktop icon. Go to thedirectory where Stellarium is located and right click on the exec file. Select create shortcut and place it on yourdesktop. Right click the icon and renameit to Stellarium (with a version ID if you like).PlanetariumActivity #1: Motions of the StarsReadthrough all instructions before starting, so you'll know what to look for. Setthe time to 1600 hours (4 p.m. [click the clock icon or press F5]). Turn daylight off using the Sun icon or thea key. Face West (by using the handtool; that is, clicking on the sky near the horizon and dragging the field ofview around so you're facing West).Change the time flow rate with the double right arrow icon. Q1. What happens?Describe how the celestial objects appear to move (for instance, in whatdirection, from where to where?). Thinkabout how the real sky moves as Earth rotates from W to E.Nowface North (again by dragging the field of view around). Q2. With the time fast-forwarding, how are thestars moving? What is the type ofmotion and in which direction (clockwiseor counterclockwise)?Q3. Do you see the Big Dipper (in theconstellation of Ursa Major -- the Great Bear)? (Ifnot, you can turn on the constellation names and outlines by using the icons onthe left in the bottom toolbar). You mayneed to zoom in or out using the mousewheel or Page Up or Page Down keys. Notethe pole pointer stars at the end of the Dippers bowl and follow them to theNorth Star (Polaris).Clickthe quit icon at the right of the bottom toolbar or quit with ^Q.PlanetariumActivity #2: Zodiacal ConstellationsReadthrough all instructions before starting, so you'll know what to look for. Activatethe Stellarium program again. If itsdaylight, turn atmosphere off with the toolbar icon or with a. Turnon constellation Boundaries and Labels.The latter is controlled with the icon on the left of the bottom toolbar,while the former requires that you activate the Sky and Viewing Options windowin the left toolbar or with F4, then choose Markings, then click the ShowBoundaries box under constellations. Thecorresponding shortcut keys are v and b.Inthe Markings menu (see above), also turn the Ecliptic line on by checking thebox under Celestial Sphere. FaceEast (by dragging the sky around until the E compass point is in front ofyou. The ecliptic line (orange) is labeled -- the apparent paththat the Sun follows through the constellations in the course of the year (alsothe plane of the Solar System)..Q1. Before you put the sky into motion, answerthis: Through how many constellations doyou think the ecliptic passes? Nowset the sky into motion with the time flow double arrow icon in the bottomtoolbar. The stars are now rising in theEast and you are moving along the ecliptic.Adjust the speed to one that is comfortable for you.Q2. List the constellations that the eclipticgoes through as you see them rise. (To see all the constellations that theecliptic passes through, you have to keep watching the ecliptic for an entireday. While you are doing this, you may need to drag the sky a little one way oranother to keep the ecliptic in view.)At some point, the Sun will come into view and should be smack on theecliptic line.Q3. How many constellations does the eclipticactually go through? Q4. Did you get the answer you expected? Why or why not?Stop the time and set the dateto your birthday (by clicking on the date/time icon or F5) and using theup/down arrows to set the date. You maykeep the year the same, as that wont affect constellation positioning. If it's not already daytime, change the timeso that it is. Locate the Sun by flowing the time until the Sun is up, but keepdaylight off. Alternatively, you can usethe find menu in the left toolbar (or F3) to find and center the Sun in thesky. Q5. What constellation is the Sun in? (If the constellation name is below thehorizon, you can fast-forward the time until it becomes visible.) Q6. Is it what you expected? Why or why not? Clickthe quit icon at the right of the bottom toolbar or quit with ^Q.PlanetariumActivity #3: Seasonal Sky ChangesReadthrough all instructions before starting, so you'll know what to look for. Under View, click on Constellationsand then Labels. Set the time to 2200 hours (10 p.m.). Q1. Different constellations are visible atdifferent times of the year. By changingthe date, determine when (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) the followingconstellations are most easily visible (that is, highest in the sky). You may have to drag the sky around a bit tofind some of them. Be careful to always observe at 2200 hours local time.OrionScorpiusUrsaMajor (the Big Dipper) CetusVirgoPegasusClickthe quit icon at the right of the bottom toolbar or quit with ^Q.PlanetariumActivity #4: Special Places on EarthReadthrough all instructions before starting, so you'll know what to look for. Face East (by dragging the sky around untilthe E is in front of you). Set yourlocation somewhere on the equator by clicking the location icon on the sidetoolbar or F6 and changing the latitude to 0 [zero]). Set the time flow to fast forward by clickingthe double-arrow icon two or three times. Q1. How do the Sun and stars appear to move? Nowset your location to be near the North Pole by changing the latitude to 90degrees. (Ignore the grass and trees displayed by the program (or press g toremove the ground); the designers probably didn't have images of ice andsnow. Notice as you drag the sky aroundnear the horizon that all cardinal directions are S. When you're at the North Pole, any directionyou face is south!)Q2. Fast-forward.How do the Sun and stars move now?Drag the sky upward while it is moving until you reach the North Starand notice how the sky is moving with respect to Polaris. Q3. Describe what the Sun is doing. Is it going to rise or set any timesoon? Explain.Clickthe quit icon at the right of the bottom toolbar or quit with ^Q.PlanetariumActivity #5: The Sun's Maximum AltitudeTheSun is highest in the sky on the date of the Summer Solstice (June 20 or 21),around 1300 hours (1 p.m.). (It would bearound 12 noon, but by June, most of the United States has moved clocksahead one hour for Daylight Savings Time.)Is the Sun directly overhead at that time? Let's find out.Readthrough all instructions before starting, so you'll know what to look for.Turnon the altitude and azimuth coordinate grid by using the Azimuthal grid icon onthe bottom toolbar (or the z key).  Setthe date/time to June 21 (the Summer Solstice) at 1300 hours (1 p.m.). Be sure that you are located at your home longitude and latitude. If you want to check to see where you arelocated, use the ACME Mapper website (http://mapper.acme.com). Enter our coordinates (N DD.ddddd, WDD.ddddd) in the box and clickFind. You can then zoom in on yourlocation to see exactly where thecoordinates locate you. Q1. Where do you expect the Sun to be? Dragthe sky so you're looking up toward the zenith. You will recognize the zenithbecause the grid lines meet there. Youshould also be able to see the Sun and it should be close to your meridian Q2. Is the Sun at the zenith? If not, about how many degrees in latitude(or altitude or declination) from the zenith is it? Do not read the azimuth scale, as thatdistance is not relevant to this discussion.What we want to know here is how far the Sun is from your zenith in thelatitude coordinate.Q3. Is this what you expected? Discuss.Can you derive an equation for the relationship between your geographiclatitude and the distance of the Sun from your zenith at the Summer solsticetime?Clickthe quit icon at the right of the bottom toolbar or quit with ^Q.PlanetariumActivity #6: Light PollutionReadthrough all instructions before starting, so you'll know what to look for. Faceeast.Ifit is daytime, flow time forward until it is dark and the stars arevisible. Keep time moving fast until yousee a band of light across the sky.That's the Milky Way. To ensurethat you see the Milky Way clearly, go to Viewing Options (icon or F4) and turnlight pollution down to option 1 (as low as it will go). Then stop the flow of time. If dawn approaches, you can press a toturn daylight off. If the Sun rises andproduces glare in the sky, you can turn the Sun off by going to the ViewingOptions window (icon or F4) and turning the planets off in the upper rightbox. Turning the planets off alsoextinguishes the Sun.Q1. What city do you live in? Is it in a metropolitan area or is it farfrom any large city? Q2. Does the Stellarium sky resemble what the skylooks like from your neighborhood? Canyou see the Milky Way from your neighborhood?If not, have you ever seen the Milky Way?Inurban areas, poorly designed lighting wastes a lot of light, energy, and moneyby allowing much of the light to escape upward. This makes the sky very brightand severely limits what you can see in the sky. To see the effects of this light pollution,do the following: Goback to the Viewing Options window and increase the light pollution byincreasing the number. The options gofrom 1 (no light pollution) to 9 (severe light pollution). Increase the light pollution until the skyapproximately matches the sky that you can see from your home. Q1. How did this change the appearance of thesky. For example, at what setting doesthe Milky Way disappear?Q2. At what setting does the sky approximatelymatch what you can see from your neighborhood?If you cannot see the Milky Way from your neighborhood, where could yougo to see a sky with no light pollution? Youcan help reduce light pollution (and save money) by encouraging the use offull cutoff light fixtures that direct the light only downward where itsneeded..