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Astronomy 161
Introduction to Solar System Astronomy
Prof. Paul Martini
Unit 2: Time and the Sky
Lecture 3: Measuring the Earth [Jan 6]
Lecture 4: Daily and Annual Motions [Jan 7] Section 2.2, Celestial Sphere Animation
Lecture 5: The Four Seasons [Jan 8] Section 2.3, Earth Motions Animation
Lecture 6: Phases of the Moon [Jan 11] Section 2.4, Moon Animation
Lecture 7: Eclipses [Jan 12] Section 2.5
Lecture 8: Time and the Calendar [Jan 13]
Lecture 9: Equation of Time [Jan 14] www.analemma.com
Lecture 10: Planetary Motions [Jan 19]
Related Readings:
Readings and animations from 21st Century Astronomy as noted above
www.analemma.com
Web links for Further Exploration in Unit 2
www.analemma.com: An excellent description of the Analemma and the Equation of Time
Analemma Photographs by Anthony Ayiomamitis
Earth and Moon Viewer
Google Moon
NASA Eclipse Home Page
NASA website for the Total Lunar Eclipse of 2010 December 21
NIST has a nice historical section entitled A Walk Through Time

The links to the lectures reproduce the electronic overheads shown in class for each of the lectures. In some cases they have additional text and links covering supplemental material or graphics. Online lecture notes are made available starting the week in which the lectures occur, but some notes may not be accessible until later in the week if I am having problems translating them into a web-accessible form.

Please feel free to print out copies of these lecture outlines in advance of class, so you can follow along with the lecture. Many students find this helps them listen without the pressure of taking down detailed notes of their own, but while still making additional notes in the margins to highlight particularly emphasized points.

See A Note about Graphics to learn why some of the graphics shown in the lectures are not reproduced with these notes.

Students looking to explore these topics further using the Internet might want to look at Prof. Richard Pogge's Selected Astronomical Internet Links for this unit.

[ Return to the Astronomy 161 Main Page | Go back to Unit 1 | Go forward to Unit 3 ]

Updated: 2009 January 16
Copyright © Paul Martini All Rights Reserved.