AST101H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Shadow Falls, Lunar Eclipse, Full Moon

• School: UTSG
• Department: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Course: AST101H1
• Professor: Michael Reid

Document Summary

After sunset, one sees stars fill the sky: more than 2000 stars are visible of the night sky. Constellations: = a region of the sky with well-defined borders. The familiar patters of stars merely help us locate the constellations: everyone point of the sky belongs to a constellation, named after western names b/c they were named/discovered by europeans/americans. Celestial sphere: = imaginary sphere on which objects in the night sky appear to reside when observed from earth, constellations lie close to each other but are actually far apart. Ancients mistaken their visible distance as reality: earth is center of sphere, full of illusion, 4 special points/circles on the celestial sphere. North celestial pole = point directly over earth"s north pole. South celestial pole = point directly over earth"s south pole. Celestial equator = projection of earth"s equator into space, makes a complete circle around the celestial sphere.