Daily Motion Lab

NAME: ___________________________Course Section: __________ DATE: ____________

On one night, shortly after sunset, find the Big Dipper (Ursa Major), the North Star
(Polaris) and a constellation in the southern sky such as ORION, PEGASUS or
SAGITTARIUS for example. NOTE!!! Stand in the exact same spot(s) each time you go
out to look. Mark it with a stick in the ground or a rock or a crack in the sidewalk.

1. Find a constellation in the south.) Note its position in the sky (e.g. SE, SSW, Azimuth
150, and Altitude 30). At hourly intervals, for the next 4 or 5 hours, repeat the
observations and record your findings below.

Constellation Name Position in sky (direction + degrees above horizon) Time
Corvus S Azimuth 182 , Alt 26 9 PM
Corvus SW Azimuth 200 , Alt 24 10 PM
Corvus SW Azimuth 213 , Alt 19 11 PM
Corvus SW Azimuth 226 , Alt 11 12 PM
Corvus SW Azimuth 237 , Alt 2 1 AM


2. Find the BIG DIPPER (Ursa Major). Note the time and sketch its position in the sky.
Record your observations below. At hourly intervals, for the next 4 or 5 hours, repeat the
observations.


Daily Motion Lab (page 2)



3. Find POLARIS. Note its position in the sky. At hourly intervals, for the next 4 or 5
hours, repeat the observations and record your findings below.


Position in sky (direction + degrees above horizon) Time
North - Azimuth 359, Alt 39 9 PM
North - Azimuth 359, Alt 39 10 PM
North - Azimuth 359, Alt 39 11 PM
North - Azimuth 0, Alt 39 12 PM
North - Azimuth 0, Alt 39 1 AM



4. What conclusions do you draw about the daily motion in each of the three cases?

Constellation in the southern half of the sky:

We were watching the constellation Corvus for 4-5 hours and after that we can say
that it kept moving from South to West at the same time it kept moving towards
the horizon. So we can say that the part of Southern sky is moving from East to
West which means the Earth is moving from West to East.

Big Dipper:
From our observations and plotting them on the given table we can say that Big
Dipper moved from North to East and kept moving in a circular pattern around the
Polaris.

Polaris:
The position of Polaris remained the same throughout our observation period.



Daily Motion Lab (page 3)


5. If you could see Polaris and these constellations in the sky 12 hours after you started
observing, how would you describe how they moved and where would they be in the sky?

Polaris would be at the same position but Big Dipper would be in the opposite
position where we observed 12 hours before. While Corvus would not be visible
after 12 hours as its azimuth and altitude keeps decreasing. Since we know that it
was going towards South West and to the horizon it would be on the other side of
the Earth from where we were standing.