Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

Thiruvananthapuram

Astronomy Assignment

Under the guidance of

Dr. Resmi Lekshmi

Submitted by
Shubham Maurya
(SC13B050)

November 2014
Department of Earth and Space Sciences

ANSWER 1

2014

Place selected for finding moon phases, moon rise and set timings- Trivandrum
Moonrise/set

Nov

Meridian passing

Moonrise

Moonset

Moonrise

Time

Distance
(km)

Illum.

00:48

(259)

13:29

(99)

19:36

(72.3)

368,700

66.7%

01:44

(263)

14:19

(95)

20:29

(76.8)

367,945

77.4%

02:40

(267)

15:09

(90)

21:21

(81.5)

368,060

86.6%

03:35

(272)

15:58

(85)

22:14

(86.2)

369,208

93.7%

04:30

(277)

16:48

(81)

23:07

(87.6)

371,475

98.2%

05:26

(281)

17:39

(77)

06:22

(284)

18:31

(74)

00:00

(84.0)

374,824

99.9%

07:18

(287)

19:24

(72)

00:54

(81.3)

379,081

99.0%

08:12

(288)

20:16

(71)

01:48

(79.6)

383,948

95.6%

10

09:05

(289)

21:08

(71)

02:41

(79.0)

389,036

90.1%

11

09:55

(288)

21:58

(73)

03:32

(79.4)

393,919

83.0%

12

10:43

(286)

22:47

(75)

04:21

(80.8)

398,189

74.7%

13

11:28

(284)

23:35

(77)

05:08

(82.9)

401,501

65.5%

14

12:11

(281)

05:54

(85.7)

403,600

56.0%

15

00:21 (80)

12:52

(278)

06:37

(89.0)

404,340

46.3%

16

01:06 (84)

13:33

(274)

07:20

(85.6)

403,688

36.7%

17

01:51 (88)

14:13

(270)

08:03

(81.8)

401,727

27.6%

18

02:37 (92)

14:54

(266)

08:46

(77.8)

398,643

19.2%

19

03:23 (96)

15:37

(262)

09:31

(73.9)

394,709

11.8%

2014

Moonrise/set

Nov

Meridian passing

Moonrise

Moonset

Moonrise

Time

Distance
(km)

Illum.

20

04:12 (100)

16:22

(259)

10:17

(70.1)

390,262

6.0%

21

05:02 (103)

17:09

(255)

11:06

(66.9)

385,666

1.9%

22

05:56 (106)

18:00

(253)

11:58

(64.2)

381,278

0.2%

23

06:51 (108)

18:54

(251)

12:53

(62.5)

377,403

0.9%

24

07:48 (109)

19:51

(251)

13:49

(61.9)

374,265

4.2%

25

08:44 (109)

20:49

(252)

14:46

(62.5)

371,979

10.2%

26

09:41 (107)

21:47

(254)

15:43

(64.3)

370,552

18.4%

27

10:35 (104)

22:44

(257)

16:39

(67.2)

369,906

28.4%

28

11:27 (101)

23:40

(261)

17:33

(71.0)

369,919

39.7%

29

12:17 (96)

18:25

(75.3)

370,475

51.5%

(92)

19:17

(79.8)

371,501

63.1%

30

00:35

(266)

13:06

From the moonrise, moonset timings and phases of moon we observe that

Rise and set time vary with phase of the moon because of different position of moon with
respect to earth.
However, the uptime for moon is same for each day (~12 hours) because orbital velocity
remains the same (eccentricity of moon's orbit around earth is very low)

Correlation between phases of moon and rise time

During full moon, the rise time of moon nearly matches with sun set time. The sun sets
in west and the full moon rises from east. The maximum illumination of moon occurs
during this phase.
During new moon, the rise time of moon nearly matches with sun rise time. The
illumination of moon's surface facing earth is close to 0% and hence new moon occurs.
When moon rise time approaches mid-night, then it is Third quarter or the waning
moon with half illumination.

When moon rise time approaches noon, then it is First quarter or the waxing moon with
half illumination.
The moon rise time increases by approximately 50 minutes every day and the cycle
continues.

ANSWER 2
Source

RA

Dec

Epoch Rise(IST) Transit(IST) Set(IST) Rise(LST) Transit(LST) Set(LST) UpTime(Hrs)

star1

02h10m0s +5d08'0"

2000. 17:59:31

22:53:53

03:52:10 21:15:37

02:10:46

07:05:56

09:50:19

star2

14h10m0s +5d08'0"

2000. 06:01:38

10:55:49

15:49:59 09:15:46

14:10:44

19:05:43

09:49:56

star3

02h10m0s +81d12'0" 2000. 16:06:07

22:55:01

05:47:51 19:21:54

02:11:55

09:01:56

13:40:02

star4

02h10m0s -50d12'0" 2000. 21:09:08

22:53:39

00:42:06 00:25:44

02:10:32

03:55:21

03:29:36

Rise time and set time are calculated by giving RA and Dec. as input (Epoch = 2000)
Declination values for southern hemisphere varies from (0d to -90d)
Rise and set time data are tabulated as shown above.
Comparison between star1 and star2
Star1 and Star2 have same Dec (+5d08'0''). However, the RA of star1 is 2h10m0s and RA
of star2 is 14h10m0s. Moreover, from table we observe that Uptime for both stars are
nearly equal. This implies that stars having same Dec. have nearly the same Uptime also.
Physically, it means that stars having same declination can be viewed in the sky for the
same duration of time. Furthermore, RA of two stars differ by approximately 12h, which
mean that star1 and star2 are opposite to each other in celestial sphere.
Comparison between star1, star3 and star4
Star1, Star2 and Star3 have same RA (2h10m0s) but different Dec. From the Dec values
of these stars, we tabulate the following inferences regarding position:
Star
Hemisphere
Star1
North (near to celestial equator)
Star3
North (near to celestial north pole)
Star4
South (near to celestial south pole)
Star3 has the highest uptime since the GMRT is also in northern hemisphere and the
circle formed by rotation will be a smaller one, thus it can viewed for much longer
duration.
Star4 has the least uptime since its position is in southern celestial hemisphere and it
would be above horizon for very less time.