Description
Where are we? Where is someplace else? And how do I get there from
here? These are questions we need to answer both on the Earth and in
the sky to assign a location to a place or celestial object on the
surface of a sphere. This lecture includes a review of angular units
and the terrestrial system of latitude and longitude on the spherical
Earth. We then define the Celestial Sphere, with its Celestial Equator
and Poles, and begin to define an analogous coordinate system on the
sky. An important wrinkle is that what part of the sky we see at any
given time depends on both where we are on the Earth, and what date/time
it is. This gives us the elements of the coordinate system we will need
to begin our exploration of motions in the sky in the next lectures.
Recorded 2007 Sep 25 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The
Ohio State University.
A new podcast, Astronomy 141, Life in the Universe, is available
for those interested in continuing an exploration of topics in
modern astronomy.
Published 12/06/09
Are we alone in the Universe? This lecture explores the question of how
we might go about finding life on planets around other stars. Rather
than talking about speculative ideas, like the Drake Equation or SETI, I
am instead taking the approach of posing it as a problem of what to look
for...
Published 11/30/07