Motions in the Heavens

Motions in the Heavens

Astronomy is the study of our universe and all its intricate pieces, like the very specific patterns and movements of different planets. The daily motions of the various objects appear similar because, all of the objects appear to rise in the East and set in the West while also spinning on their X axis.

 The apparent motions of various objects depend on the direction in which you are looking because all objects have a specific path so depending on where you look their location in the sky may appear different.

The Sun moves against the background of the stars like the moon moves, we see the rising and setting of these two things while the stars appear stationary. This phenomenon is referred to as retrograde motion, “When a planet seems to slow down, stop, and move backwards from east to west for a short time.”

 Seasons are created by the Sun slowly moving higher into the sky therefore cooler periods. The Sun in the Western hemisphere is farther away during winter while it is closer during summer. The Moon’s phases are caused by the Sun’s light casting Earth’s shadow on to the Moon. This is why we cannot see the full moon and Sun simultaneously.

Mercury and Venus move by, “An object that orbits in a clockwise, instead of a counter-clockwise, direction when viewed from the north pole of the ecliptic.” While the outer planets, “In general, the planets move eastward relative to the "fixed" stars called "Direct Motion". 

Motion is non-uniform (not at the same speed).” Precessions observable effects are, the slow, conical motion of the earth's axis of rotation, caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon, and, to a smaller extent, of the planets, on the equatorial bulge of the earth. Because of this Polaris will not always be the North Star.

        According to the experts Polaris will not and has not always been the North star, “But in the year 3000 B.C., the North Star was a star called Thuban (also known as Alpha Draconis), and in about 13,000 years from now the precession of the rotation axis will mean that the bright star Vega will be the North Star. Don't feel bad for Polaris, however, because in 26,000 more years it will once again be the Pole Star!” because of the two constellations the Big and Little Dipper will be out of view.