the celestial sphere- woodland hills school district（天球-林地山校区）.docVIP

The Celestial Sphere: Celestial Sphere: The stars and planets appear to be on a large sphere surrounding the earth. Although we know this is not true, the celestial sphere model is used to navigate the night sky. The celestial sphere is aligned with the earth, so that the equators coincide, and the poles coincide (Ex: North celestial pole is over the north pole of the earth). Earth Coordinate system: On earth, we use Latitude and Longitude coordinate system. Latitude measures the angle north or south of the equator. There are 90 degrees north, and 90 degrees south. The angle is measured from the equator, so the equator is 0 degrees. (From 0 to 90 north and 0 to –90 south) Longitude measures the angle east or west Since a circle has 360 degrees, there are 360 degrees of longitude. (From 0 to 180 E and 0 to 180 W) For example, Pittsburgh is roughly 42 degrees latitude and 85 degrees West longitude. Celestial Sphere Coordinate system: The celestial sphere uses a similar coordinate system. It uses Right Ascension and Declination. Right Ascension: gives the distance measured eastward on the celestial sphere. Since the earth rotates once every 24 hours, Right ascension is divided into 24 hours. Right ascension is similar to Longitude on earth. Declination: gives the distance measured north or south of the celestial equator. There are 90 degrees north, and 90 degrees south. The angle is measured from the equator, so the equator is 0 degrees. (From 0 to 90 north and 0 to –90 south) This is similar to Latitude on earth. Therefore, a star can be found on the celestial sphere, similar to how a city on earth can be found. We can look up its Right Ascension and Declination. Terminology on the Celestial sphere: Zenith: The point that is directly overhead Ecliptic: The apparent path that the sun takes around the celestial sphere. The planets and moon also follow the ecliptic. The Zodiac constellations also are on the ecliptic. Pola