Observing the Sky- Computer ActivityUsing Stellarium Software

Stellarium Lab 1: Earth, Moon, and Sun

Instructions: On your own, you will be using a laptop/desktop and the Stellarium program to explore space! Use the following instruction as your guide to complete the following Lab. This lab should be recorded in detail in your science notebook.

Getting Acquainted with Stellarium:

  1. Turn on the computer/laptop and open the Stellarium Program from desktop icon.
  1. Make sure the program is set to Delhi as its location (see bottom leftof screen). If you need to change it:
  2. Click on the location icon (star symbol) on the tool bar on the left hand side of the screen.
  3. Select location and Search “Delhi” and hit enter
  4. Make sure the red arrow on the map is now on Delhi and then select the default location box and close window.
  1. Spend several minuets getting familiar with the basic controls for navigation at the bottom tool bar. These help you to speed up and slow down time and return to current time.
  1. Spend some time navigating the options on the tool bar on left.
  1. Then, click the “?” from the left side tool bar, and bring up the help guide to useful functions. Study this to learn how to navigate in space and time using this program. Record any of these functions that you might need for the lab (at least 10 functions).

The Activity:

  1. Using Stellarium, figure out what time the sun will set tonight and rise tomorrow morning, and record both the times and explain how you were able to figure these out.
  1. Open the location window (Star symbol) and change the location to as far north as you can go on the map. Pick a city and record the sunrise and set from that location. Then change the location a second time to a city far south in the southern hemisphere and again record the sunrise and sunset. Calculate the total number of hours of day and night for each location. Create a data table that shows sunrise, sunset, total hours of day, total hours of night. Now analyze your data; is there a big difference and do the results match with what you have learned? Explain
  1. Set your screen back to Delhi. Locate the moon in the sky, and record its rise and set times for today. Pick a time that it is visible and record its location using the Equatorial grid function (“E”). Fast forward to the next seven days and record the location of the moon each day at the same time. Is there a pattern here? What do you observe about the moon’s position in the sky? Explain.
  1. Locate the moon and fast forward to the next full moon. Record the date and time it is visible from Delhi.
  1. Fast forward time to your next birthday. Record the following information; Sun rise and set, moon rise and set. Record any interesting observation about what you would be able to see in the sky on your birthday if the sky is clear.
  1. Now, take some time to explore other things you can use Stellarium for. Record three other ways that Stellarium can be a valuable tool for the study of astronomy.