Numaan Cheema

PHY 162
Dr. Lanz

Observing Reflection Paper

The night sky is a wondrous spectacle that leaves anyone who cares to observe it in a
daze. From stars that seem to move and planets that seem to stay still, the night sky is the gate to
our vision of what is beyond our planet. As part of a project, we were assigned to spend roughly
two months to regularly observe the night sky and see that which remained constant and those
things that did not. Then based on what we observed, we were tasked to identify those things that
remained the same and those that changed as well as the physical principles that can explain why
such occurrences happened. To keep the observation constant, I would check the night sky from
the same place every single night that I made an observation (except for one night). I chose to
make all my observations from the deck of our house in Lawrenceville, NJ. The view was mostly
unobstructed as the house is located on a hill and the horizon was visible on both sides from
certain angles. Throughout my observations, I made sure to observe one area of the sky
constantly for ten to fifteen minutes per observation. In the earlier observations, I had tried to
video record (using a Canon EOS m50 mirrorless camera) the changing of the sky as well but
unfortunately due to light pollution and not having the right equipment, I was unable to capture
with a camera what I was seeing with my eyes. My observational period was from 9/7/19 till
9/28/19. Although all observations were done with the naked eye, to aid in identifying planetary
bodies, I employed the help of a mobile application, SkyView created by Terminal Eleven LLC.
This mobile application aided in identifying what planetary body I was looking at in the sky by
pointing the phone in their direction. To measure the altitude, I used the “hand” method to
estimate. For the direction, I used the built-in mobile compass on the Apple iPhone X.

Although everything seemed to move slightly, certain cosmological bodies changed more
vigorously throughout my observational period. Some changed throughout a shorter period,
some changed through the whole observational period, and some only changed in the duration of
one night. As for the bodies that changed through the course of one night, it was the planets
Jupiter and Saturn. This observation was done on 9/10/19 at 9:15 pm and then again on the same
night at 11:15 pm. At 9:15 pm, both Jupiter and Saturn were visible above the horizon. Saturn
was visible in the South direction at about 25° altitude with an uncertainty of approximately 5°.
Jupiter was also visible during the first observation at roughly 15° altitude with an uncertainty of
approximately 5°. Saturn was more towards the South whereas Jupiter was closer to the
Southwest. When observed a second time during the same night at 11:15 pm, I noticed that
Jupiter was no longer visible, as it had dipped below the horizon, whereas Saturn was much
closer to the horizon and looked as though it had taken the place of Jupiter. Now Saturn’s
location was more southwest rather than just being south with the altitude being around 15°. This
can be explained by understanding where we are located when observing and the Earth’s
rotation. In the Northern hemisphere, Saturn and Jupiter form this small arc over the horizon
between the Southeast and the Southwest. So they both rise around the Southeast and set near the
Southwest. This is due to the rotation of the Earth that makes it seems as though they’re rising
and setting.

Another observation that seemed to move frequently, was the moon. Through the
observational period, the moon moved from one side of the compass to another. When first
observed on 9/7/19, the moon was in the Southwest direction. When observed three days later on
9/13/19, the moon was no longer in the original direction and rather was more towards the South.
Then when observed another three days later on 9/16/19, the moon was in the Southeast
direction. From there it seemed the moon was moving towards the East direction. On the last
day the moon was visible on 9/19/19, the moon was in the Northeast direction. So to summarize,
the moon moved from the Southwest at the beginning of the observational period to the
Northeast by the end of the observational period. This phenomenon can be explained by
understanding that the moon is orbiting the Earth. The reason why this specific to the moon is
because the moon is the only cosmological body that is moving around the Earth so it takes the
moon a full month to complete an orbit. Because of this, the moon appears in a different spot
every night observed as it was going through its course of orbiting the Earth. If observed for a
full month, we would’ve seen the moon come back to where it had started a month ago.

Another object that changed significantly was the phases of the moon. The moon was a
Waxing gibbous when first observed on 9/7/19. Then on 9/13/19, the moon was now full and
remained full for a few days. After which on 9/17/19, the moon was seen as being in the Waning
gibbous phase which remained till the final observation of the moon on 9/19/19.

The phases of the moon are explained through several factors: the moons orbit of the
Earth, the Earth and Moon’s orbit of
the sun, and the Earth's orbit on an
axis. Due to this, the moon seems to
change its shape for a month whereas
what’s changing is the part of the
moon that is visible to us through the
month. In our earlier observations,
the moon was in its Waxing Gibbous
phase. This means that most of the
moon was lit by the Sun and its not-
visible side was getting smaller as it
headed towards a Full moon. Then in
the next set of observations, the moon
was full. This means that the Sun lit
up the entire surface of the moon that
faces us on Earth. Then a few days
later, the moon was about more than half lit or it was in its Waning gibbous phase. As the word
itself suggests, this is when the visible part of the moon begins to wane or get smaller for the
next few days as it heads towards the new moon phase. These phases of the moon are a cause of
how much sunlight is being cast onto the moon on the side that faces us. The amount of sunlight
the moon is reflecting, is what causes us to think of the moon as changing, while in reality, all
that’s changing is the position of the moon in regard to the Earth which in turn leads to the
amount of light being cast onto it that is visible to us on Earth.

While these three were the significant changes observed in the night sky, some things
seemed to remain still or barely move through the course of the observational period. One of
those things that remained fairly constant throughout the observational period was the altitude of
the constellation, Ursa Minor, familiarly referred to as The Little Dipper. Throughout the
observational period, the Ursa Minor constellation remained between 40° and 50° altitude. This
can be explained by understanding what we refer to as Celestial north. Celestial North is the
direction that is relatively above the North of the Earth at all times during the year. Meaning as
the Earth moves around the Sun, what is ‘above’ the Earth remains ‘above’ it. Ursa Minor is one
such constellation that is near the Celestial North of Earth. So it will seem to spin in a small
circle as the day goes by, due to the Earth’s rotation, but will remain within the range of the
altitude as it’s going around. To summarize, the altitude of the constellations Ursa Minor remains
roughly the same due to the fact it is near Earth’s Celestial North so it will look as though it is
spinning in a small circle effectively remaining within a range of altitude. This phenomenon can
be visibly explained if one is able to observe the night sky the Northern Hemisphere, The
Equator, and The Southern Hemisphere. Visible stars planetary bodies in the North and Southern
hemispheres, although are different constellations, form circles throughout the day and night as
the Earth orbits. The stars and planetary bodies seen at the equator, form lines as they go from
north to south. This is due to the positioning of the Earth and our viewpoint of celestial objects.

Another thing that seemed to remain unchanged was the direction of both Saturn and
Jupiter. Although they moved in terms of their altitude, the two planets remained in the South
and the Southwest direction throughout the observational period. This can be explained by
learning about the distance between Earth and Saturn/Jupiter. Earth’s distance to these planets
coupled with the Earth’s significantly smaller orbit of the Sun, these two planets seem to remain
in the Southwest sky throughout the year.

Regardless of what changed or didn’t change in the night sky, this was just a small
glimpse to what lies beyond us. From the moving planets to the dancing stars, the Earth’s
celestial view hold many secrets and possibilities for what lies beyond us. This minuscule
glimpse of observing space only affirms the famous quote by Mr. Spock, “Instruments register
only through things they're designed to register. Space still contains infinite unknowns, It is the
final frontier”1

1“The Naked Time.” Star Trek: The Original Series. Writ. John D. F. Black. Dir. Marc Daniels.
Desilu Production 1966. DVD.