Objective The objective of this lab is to demonstrate the location of the planets closest to Earth in relation to Earth and

the sun. A planisphere was also used to predict the location of various planets in the sky during different times in the year.

Introduction For most of history, it was assumed that the Earth was stationary and the rest of the cosmos rotated around it. By the time of the Greeks, some had begun to build heliocentric models of the solar system. Copernicus was the first to develop a scientifically backed theory of a heliocentric solar system. The solar system consists of 8 planets and the sun which they orbit. The 8 planets are themselves divided into the inner and outer planets. The inner planets consist of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The inner planets are much smaller compared to the outer planets, and usually are composed of rocky material. An asteroid belt separates the inner and outer planets. The outer planets are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The outer planets are known as the gas giant, and are composed largely of hydrogen, helium or water. Many of the planets are visible with the naked eye from earth, including Venus, which is brighter than the brightest stars.

Materials Polar Coordinate Graph Paper Protractor SC001 Constellation Chart Planisphere Coloured Pencils

Procedure 1) Using the Polar Coordinate Graph Paper, plotted out the positions of five planets (Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) for January, February, and March in relation to the sun using number of Astronomical Units(AU) as the system of measurement. 2) Using the positions of the planets on the chart, we determined the configuration and whether each planet was visible at noon, midnight, dawn and dusk. 3) Using the SC001 Constellation Chart, determined the constellations the five planets would be in January, February and March 4) Cut out planisphere and used to answer questions from lab manual Tables and Figures

Figure 1: Planets position in relation to Earth Planet Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn

Noon Y Y N Y

Sunset N Y Y N

Midnight N N Y N

Sunrise Y N N Y

Configuration Superior Conjunction Conjunction Eastern Quadrature/Opposition Western Quadrature

Figure 2: Geocentric Equatorial Position of Planets Planet Sun Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Ecliptic Longitude(Degrees) 0 357 10 81 218 Constellation Pisces Aquarius Pisces Taurus Libra Declination Right Ascenscion (hrs) (Degrees) 0 23.8 0.5 5.3 14.4

0 -2 4 18 -16

Questions 1) In which zodiacal constellation was the sun located when you were born? The sun was located in the Gemini constellation when I was born (July 3rd), but my astrological sign is Cancer. The discrepancy is due precession, which is a gyroscopic movement in the Earths rotation which causes a shift in all astrological signs. 2) Polaris 3) Vega in the constellation Lyra 4) The star Spica is on the western horizon 5) Vega is in the zenith and Spica is in the western horizon 6) Deneb is in the zenith and Antares is on the western horizon 7) Antares will set at 9:15pm on Sept. 22. It will set at 1am on July 28th. 8) Sirius will rise at 6:30p, on Jan 1st, and sets at around 5:45am. It will be visible for about 10hrs and 45 mins. Evaluation Good lab, could have been done much faster than it was.