INX300_ProjectChoice2_VirtualAstronomy (1)

INX300: Astronomy Seneca College 2023 Choice 2: Exploring the Night Sky with Stellarium Web 20% of the course mark. Due by Dec.1 . In this project you will use the free browser-run version Stellarium Web https://stellarium-web.org/ to virtually “observe” the night sky and the visible planets, to collect and analyze data of stars and stellar clusters. Stellarium Web has the advantage that it does not require download and setting up of multiple options, unlike the full version (also free and available from https://stellarium.org ). Stellarium Web has only a few basic settings, while still correctly representing the night sky for the chosen times and locations. In Part 1 of the project you will view planets visible in the evening sky and summarize their properties. In Part 2 you will explore and analyze properties of stars in one constellation of the season. In Part 3 you will analyze open clusters of stars. You can choose to work in a group of 3 students and do all 3 parts of the project. It is recommended to split the work in a way that you contribute to each part. If you work alone choose either Parts 1 and 2, or Parts 2 and 3. Familiarize yourself with the Stellarium Web options first: Fig.1. The Stellarium Web screen with the viewing options. Course Project - Choice 4 Prof. M. Nenkova 1

INX300: Astronomy Seneca College 2023 Open Stellarium Web ( https://stellarium-web.org ) , set the observing location to Toronto and the time to an evening in March 2023. Set the viewing options for constellations (on), landscape (on), atmosphere (off for better seeing), deep sky objects (on). In View Settings in the upper left corner set Ecliptic Line on. Fast forward the time controls by holding the cursor over the arrows for minutes or hours. Scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out and notice how the FOV (field of view) changes. Drag the mouse to look in different horizon directions. Click on various objects (planets, stars, star clusters, galaxies) and read the information panel appearing in the upper left. Center on the object by clicking on this button, then zoom on the centered object. Part 1: Virtual Observations of Planets in Fall 2023 In your report state all planets that are above the horizon for your choice of an evening time and date (in Fall 2023 semester). Write down their Stellarium magnitudes and distances from Earth (in A.U.). Take a screenshot of Stellarium Web (with FOV between about 90 o and 120 o ) that shows the planets, the ecliptic line, the date and time of your virtual observation, and insert it in your report. Jupiter and its Galilean moons.  Set the date and time to see Jupiter above the horizon, and turn off the atmosphere to darken the sky. Center on the planet. Zoom in the field of view to see details on Jupiter and its moons. To observe Jupiter’s rotation click and hold the pointer on the minutes to fast-forward time. Measure and record how much time the Great Red Spot needs to transit (to cross the visible disk of Jupiter) .  Adjust the zoom (the FOV) to observe the orbital motions of the Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) and take a screenshot to insert in this part of your report. Measure the approximate transit times of each moon (the time it takes to go across Jupiter) as you fast- forward the minutes. Record your results in Table 1.  Explore the 4 Galilean Moons. After recording the transit times record each moon’s radius, as shown in Stellarium Web . Compare to Earth’s Moon radius of 1,737 km by showing the ratio of each Jupiter’s Moon radius to Earth’s Moon’s radius. Ex., if a moon’s radius is 1560 km, you will show the ratio of 0.90 in the table. (Round-off to 2 digits after the decimal point.) Table 1 (adjust the column sizes as needed) Jupiter’s moon Io Europa Ganymede Callisto Time for Transit (hrs:min) Radius (km) Jupiter’s moon radius to Earth’s Moon radius Surface Features seen in Stellarium Web Course Project - Choice 4 Prof. M. Nenkova 2