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Lab 4: Lunar Phases and EclipsesNAMEFor the Lunar Cycle Project you are tracking the phases of the Moon to determine the synodic period, the time it takes the Moon to go through all its phases. In this lab you will use Stellarium and a web animation to reinforce what you learn in the Lunar Phases lessons and to see how the different lunar phases relate to the positions of Earth, the Moon and the Sun. You will also use Stellarium to look at three different types of eclipses.***Be sure your computer is set for the Central Time Zone before starting Stellarium! Instructions can be found in these video links: PC, Mac.Open Stellarium and stop the time flow (“K” toggles the time flow). Set the date to 2021/3/20 (2021 March 20) Set the time to 13:00:00 (the “noon” position of the Sun during Daylight Saving Time)Open the Location window (F6) and in the Planet box, click on "Sun" in the drop down list to change your view to looking back at Earth from the direction of the Sun. Turn off the ground (G), open the Search window (F3) and type in "Earth" and hit "Enter" to center Earth in your field of view. Zoom in for a closer look using the "page up" key. Check the tool bar at the bottom of the screen and make sure the icon showing the two telescopes is highlighted (switch between equatorial and azimuthal mount). Note: When you change your location to the sun, the time will change to 18:00 UTC+00:00- do not change it again – this is correct. This depends on your version of Stellarium (do not change the time).(As a reminder, a list of frequently used shortcuts can be found here: )1.?Which part of Earth is in daylight? (Give a geographical description - either the name of the continents you can see or the eastern or western hemisphere.) 2.?Which part of Earth is dark? (Give a geographical description here as well - either the name of the continents on the dark side of Earth or the eastern or western hemisphere.)3.?If the time in Illinois is noon, what time would it be in Novosibirsk, Russia on the opposite side of Earth from Illinois (answer choices are "sunrise, noon, sunset or midnight")?Increase the time speed (L) by 3 or 4 clicks and watch as Earth rotates.4.?The North Pole is near the top of Earth in this image. Imagine you are looking down on Earth from above the North Pole. Is Earth rotating clockwise, or counter-clockwise?Zoom your field of view back out to 60° “\”. You can minimize the Stellarium window for now.?5.?The image below shows Earth and indicates that the Sun is on the far right. Imagine you are looking down at the North Pole in the center of the circle. What time would it be for an observer at each of the positions a, b, c, and d? (Use "sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight" again) a. ______________________b. ______________________c. ______________________d. ______________________Earth's Moon:The Moon is roughly ? the size of Earth. However, the distance between Earth and the Moon is much larger, about 60 times the diameter of Earth. Even with Stellarium, we can't make a usable scale model of the Sun/Earth/Moon system, so we'll use a model that is not to scale.You will be using Lunar Phase Simulator from the NAAP labs software that you used in the last lab. You can download the NAAP labs from the University of Nebraska website. opening the software, click on “Lunar Phases”, then click to open the “Lunar Phase Simulator”. Optional: The “Moon Bisector Demo” can help you a lot if you are having trouble understanding the phases based on the orientation of the Moon with Earth and the Sun. Optional: The “Moon Phases and the Horizon Diagram” can help you understand the time of moonrise and moonset based on the position of the Sun.Click the "start animation" button and watch the Moon go through the cycle of phases as it orbits Earth. Watch at least one full cycle, and then click the "pause animation" button. In the "Moon Phase" window on the upper right, open the drop-down list and select "New Moon".6. Run the animation again, stopping as needed. Watch for the following phases to appear: New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter, and Waning Crescent.?The diagram below is labeled with the positions of Earth and Sun and positions for the Moon labeled 1-8.For each position of the Moon in the diagram above, record the phase and give a brief description of how the Moon appears from Earth. These are shown in the Moon Phase window. For each description, indicate which side of the Moon is illuminated (right or left), and approximately how much of the disk is lighted. For example, "waxing crescent" for the phase and "right side less than half lit" for the description are sufficient.PositionPhaseDescription12345678Run through the phases again, this time watching the animation in the "Horizon Diagram" window. Notice that as the Moon orbits Earth, the local time changes. The Moon rise is always on the eastern horizon, so to determine the rise time, use the "increment animation" hour + or - buttons to get each phase on the eastern horizon (above the stick man in the middle) to fill in the Rise times in the chart below. Set the Moon on the western horizon (below the stick man) to determine the set times for the Moon each of the phases. You can tilt the ground to see the directions a little better if this helps. You can also refer to the rise and set table in the Lesson on Lunar Phases.7. Fill in the chart below, using the terms "sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight".?PhaseRiseSetNew Moon??First Quarter??Full Moon??Third Quarter??8. Using the same method as above, determine the time of day when each of the following phases will rise or set, as indicated.?This will be a range of times because the crescent and gibbous phases last for about a week. For each answer choose one of the following: "between sunrise and noon", "between noon and sunset", "between sunset and midnight", or "between midnight and sunrise".?Waxing Crescent Moon Rises?Waning Crescent Moon Sets?Waxing Gibbous Moon Sets?Waning Gibbous Moon Rises??Eclipses:The Sun is the light source for all objects in our solar system. When one object passes in front of another and some or all of the sunlight is blocked, there is an eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks sunlight from reaching Earth. A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the Moon. You may want to review Section 4.7 of your textbook about eclipses. 9.?During which phase of the Moon can a solar eclipse occur??During which phase of the Moon can a lunar eclipse occur?Return to Stellarium. Open the location window and select Earth in the Planets list to return to Earth. Center the Sun in your field of view (use the Search window if necessary), and make sure the cardinal directions are shown on the horizon (Q), switch back to azimuthal mount (Ctrl + M) and turn the ground back on (G). (You should see eclipses in the next few scenarios. If you do not, check your viewing location, date and time, and confirm that your computer’s time zone is set to Central Time.)?Set the following conditions:Time: 21:30:00Date: 2022-05-15 (2022 May 15)?Find and select the Moon; hit the spacebar so the moon will stay centered.?Zoom in (“page up” or control-↑) to see it up close.?Increase the time flow forward by three or four clicks (L) and watch the Moon for a few minutes, until the time is close to 01:00. (It may be easier to see what’s happening if you hit “A” to turn off the atmosphere.)10. Describe what you have just watched.?11.?What time did the leading (lower left) edge of the Moon begin to enter Earth's shadow? 12.?What time did the Moon completely leave Earth's shadow?13. How long was the Moon completely within Earth's shadow? (This is not the same as the amount of time between questions 11 & 12.)The event you just watched was a total lunar eclipse. If only part of the Moon moves through the umbra, the darkest part of Earth's shadow, it is a partial lunar eclipse. If the Moon only passes through all or part of the penumbra, the lighter part of Earth's shadow, it is called a penumbral lunar eclipse.?Solar Eclipses:Set the following conditions:Viewing Location: Carbondale, United States (from list)Time: 12:00:00 (noon)Date: 2024-04-08 (2024 April 08)?Use "page down" or control-down to zoom out to around 10 degrees field of view (FOV). Set your view facing south, so that you can see the Sun. Click "L" four times to increase the time speed and watch the Sun until 5 PM (17:00:00). Re-set the time to noon. Select the Sun and hit the space bar to sure the Sun is centered and zoom in to a FOV of less than 10 degrees. Increase the time speed again by three or four clicks and watch again.?14.?Describe what you saw in some detail (at least a full sentence).15. There are three types of solar eclipses. Which type is this?Re-set the time to 14:00:00. Open the "Search" window, and type in “Moon”. Make sure that underneath the search box the term in bold is "Moon" and NOT "Hydra (moon)". When you hit enter, the information for the Moon should appear in the upper left corner of the screen. Record the Moon's distance in AU below. (Not the “Distance from Sun”!)16.?What is the distance to the Moon in AU? Stellarium may or may not have the distance in kilometers listed as well. If the distance in kilometers is not listed, use the astronomical conversion chart at the following website to convert the distance in AU to the distance in kilometers: . What is the distance to the Moon in kilometers? Open the Location window and change the viewing location to Champaign, United States.?Close the Location window and note the change in how the Moon and Sun appear now.?18.?What type of solar eclipse is this? How is it possible the view of the eclipse appears so different when your viewing location has changed by such a small amount?Set the following conditions:Viewing Location: Albuquerque, United StatesTime: 08:30:00Date: 2023/10/14 (2023 October 14)?The Sun should still be centered in your field of view, but if it isn’t, find and center it in your field of view again and make sure you’re still zoomed in. The FOV should be about 2°. Increase the time speed by three or four steps and watch as the Moon eclipses the Sun again. Stop when you get past 12:30:00 hours.Reset the time to 10:38:00. ?19. What specific type of eclipse is this?Open the "Search" window again and search for the Moon. Hit enter to select the Moon and see its information.?20.?What is the distance to the Moon in AU at this setting??What is the distance to the Moon in kilometers?21.?Compare your answers for questions 15, 16 and 17 with your answers for questions 19 and 20. Do your answers make sense based on what you have learned about the different types of solar eclipses? Explain.?? ................
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