Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Movement of Stars due to Rotation and Revolution, of the Earth

The earth's rotation rate is 15 degrees per hour.
This causes the stars to move left to right across
the southern sky.

The earth is also revolving in its orbit around the
sun, and this causes given stars to rise and set
4 minutes earlier each night.
This adds up to 28 minutes per week,
or two hours per month.
That is why we see different stars in the evening
at different seasons throughout the year. The night
sky faces outward from the sun in different directions
as the year progresses, at a given time of night.

Next Season's Preview in the Morning:

If you want to see what the stars will look like
three and a half months from now at 9pm in the evening,
then, just go out in the morning, at 4am, and there
they will be. The planets and moon will be different,
of course.
(The sidereal (star) time will be the same.)

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