Name

Celestial Coordinates

I. Introduction

Astronomers need a coordinate system for the sky just as navigators and geographers
require a coordinates system for the surface of the Earth. Such a system ensures that
different parties can refer to the same point in the sky without having to resort to such
directions as “in the constellation Canis Majoris” or “low in the western sky,” that are
ambiguous at best.

Astronomers have borrowed the Earth’s geographical coordinate system of latitude and
longitude, in a modified form. We imagine the universe as a transparent sphere centered
on the Earth with the planets, Sun, and stars arranged on the surface of the sphere. This
arrangement is purely an artificial construct based on how the sky appears to an Earth-
based observer, not how it actually is. Coordinates on this Celestial Sphere have
coordinates analogous to the latitude and longitude coordinates used for the Earth’s surface.
The Celestial Equator is the projection of the Earth’s equator onto the celestial sphere.
The Celestial North/South Pole is the projection of the Earth’s North/South pole onto the
celestial sphere. Declination is the celestial equivalent of latitude, measured in degrees, +
for north of the celestial equator, - for south of the celestial equator. Right Ascension is
the celestial equivalent of longitude, measured in hours, increasing eastward. There are 24
hours of right ascension in a full circuit of the celestial sphere.

In this lab, you will familiarize yourself with the celestial coordinate system of right
ascension and declination (RA and DEC), as well as how these coordinates allow
astronomers to determine some fundamental observational data.

II. Set up

a. Go to stellarium.org
b. Download the appropriate version of the Stellarium software for your
operating system
c. Install the software on your computer and start up the program
d. Once the program is started, slide your cursor to the far left edge of the
Stellarium window on your computer and several tools will appear on the
far left edge of the window.
e. Select the Location Window (you can also choose it by pressing Fn+F6.
Set your location to Phoenix, Arizona by typing “Phoenix” in the search
window, or by clicking on the location of Phoenix on the world map and
 then selecting it from the list of cities near the location you selected on the
map. Close the Location Window.
f. Make sure that today’s date is displayed in the Date/Time window
(Fn+F5). Close the Date/Time window.
g. In the Sky and Viewing Options window (Fn+F4), select the Markings
tab at the top, and check
i. Equatorial grd (of date)
ii. Equator (of date), all boxes
iii. Ecliptic (of date), all boxes
iv. Horizon, all boxes
v. Celestial Poles (of date)
vi. Make sure that Cardinal points is checked
h. In the Sky and Viewing Options window (Fn+F4), select the Landscape
tab at the top, and
i. Uncheck the Show ground box, and the Show fog box.
i. In the Sky and Viewing Options window (Fn+F4), select the Starlore tab
at the top, and
i. Under Options, check Show labels and Show Constellation lines.
ii. Close the Sky and Viewing Options window.
j. Place your cursor along the bottom edge of the Stellarium window. A
different set of setup options will appear along the bottom edge of the
window.
i. Click on Atmosphere. This will remove the sky brightness, even if
it is daytime. You can also toggle this feature by typing the “a” key
with the cursor anywhere in the Stellarium screen.
ii. At the right side of the bottom edge, you will see these controls:

They control the rate of time passage for the Stellarium program.
1. Clicking on the far left button (or typing “j” on your keyboard)
will make time run backwards. The more times you click it, the
faster the time will run.
2. Clicking on the button second from the left (or typing “k”) will
make the program run in real time.
3. Clicking on the button second from the right (or typing “8”) will
set the date and time to the current time.
4. Clicking on the button on the far right button (or typing “L” on
your keyboard) will make time run forward. The more times
you click it, the faster the time will run.
5. The program’s date and time are displayed just above these
controls.
III. Motions of Celestial Objects

1. While in the Stellarium window on your computer, grab and drag the screen until you
are looking at “N” on the horizon to look due North. Change the field of view (zoom in
or out) by using your mouse wheel, or by clicking on the “/” or “\” keys on your keyboard.
Zoom in or out until you can see the North Celestial Pole (NCP) in your field of view.

Speed up the time rate until you can see the sky moving on the screen.

In what direction does the sky appear to rotate as time moves forward?

Now grab the screen and move to looking “S” on the horizon to look due south.
Repeat step 1. Now how do the stars appear to move?

3. Now move your viewing area until you are looking due west, and grab and move
the field of view up or down until you have a flat horizon on your screen. Reset
TIME to the current date and time of day. Advance the time until the sun sets to
determine sunset for today:

time of sunset for today = .

Do the same for sunrise today on the eastern horizon:

time of sunrise = .

4. While looking due East:

a. choose a star, or the Sun and advance the time forward or backward until
the object is on the horizon.
b. Carefully center a protractor on the screen where the object touches the
horizon.
c. Increase the time rate until the chosen object moves fast enough that you
can see it move, and moves all the way to the outer edge of your protractor.
d. At what angle does your object rise (and also set) with respect to the
horizon?

Angle with respect to horizon __________________

 5. Find the required information for the objects listed in the following table.
a. Place your cursor on the far left edge of the screen, and choose the “Using
the “Search window” (or Fn+F3).
b. Type in the name of the object in the search box, and press “enter” on
your keyboard.
c. The upper left portion of the Stellarium window will display a pop-up
with information on the selected object. Also the window will move around to
center on the object and place a reticule on the object.
d. To clear the information pop-up, right-click anywhere in the Stellarium
window.

Right Declination Constellation Distance from

Ascension Earth
Jupiter
Sun
Vega
Rigel
Deneb
Altair
Polaris

6. Now locate and center on the Moon.

What is the phase of the Moon today?

(look for the “Moon age” data near the bottom of the pop-up)

What constellation is it in today?

What are the times of moonrise and moonset for today?

IV. The Ecliptic
The ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun with respect to the stars over the course of
a year. Since this motion is caused by the Earth revolving around the Sun, it also is the
plane of the Earth’s orbit and by convention the plane of the Solar System.

1. What is the angle between the ecliptic and the celestial equator?

degrees

On what date(s) this year is the Sun on both the celestial equator and the
ecliptic? (Declination = 0o).
Helpful user tip: You can change dates by clicking on the Month and/or Day in
the Date/Time window, then use the mouse scroll wheel, or the up/down arrows to
change the value. If you select the Sun in the Search window, you will have the
Sun’s informational pop-up visible while you change the Month and/or Day

On what date(s) this year is the Sun the farthest north of the celestial equator?
(Declination is greatest + number)

On what date(s) this year is the Sun the farthest south of the celestial equator?
(Declination is greatest - number)