Celestial Equator Essay

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5(a). What is the angle of the ecliptic with respect to the celestial equator?
The angle of the ecliptic with the respect to the celestial equator is approximately 23.6 degree. It was measured by finding the intersection between the celestial equator marking and ecliptic marking, then zooming in to make these two marking straight, and finally measuring the angle of intersection by a protractor.

5(b). Explain why this ecliptic path exists.
Ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun’s motion. Because the Earth is circling around the Sun, the path of the sun is observed as circular on Earth. This path stays relatively constant throughout years because the orbits of Earth and other planets in our galaxy lays on the ecliptic plane, which is defined …show more content…

Io has the shortest orbits compared to other three moons. It takes approximately two days for Io to circle around its orbit. It takes approximately four days for Europa and eight days for Ganymede to complete one orbit run. I started to observe on November 1st, Relative to the Jupiter, on Nov 4th, Io and Europa is in the similar position to its initial position. On Nov 6th, Io is also close to its initial position. Ganymede seemingly returns to its initial position on Nov 8th. Also on Nov 8th , Callisto’s position is symmetric to its initial position with the Jupiter as the axis. Therefore, Callisto should have a orbital period of approximately sixteen days. As I zoomed in to observe the moons, I noticed that every moon rotates around its own axis as they travel around their …show more content…

From 2014 to 2024, the top of the ring is always visible, yet the area of visible section gradually decreases as time passes. In June of 2024, the top of the ring becomes no longer visible; I can only see the edge of the ring. From 2025 to 2039, the bottom of the ring becomes slowly visible. In June of 2039, the bottom of the ring is no longer visible, I again can only see the edge of the ring. From 2040-2054, the top of the ring is visible; in June of 2054, I can only see the edge. Therefore, the full cycle for this pattern is thirty years in length, and people can see only the edge of the ring of Saturn every fifteen years. This is because the angle titled between ecliptic plane and Saturn’s axis is different from the angle between ecliptic plane and earth’s axis. Since two axis point at the same direction, this difference in angle allows the orientation of Saturn’s ring to change throughout

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