Physics 1052 Reports Examples

North Circumpolar Motion of Stars

I, YOUR NAME, went to THE NAME OF A LOCAL PARK, in order to observe the circumpolar motion of the stars nearest to the north celestial pole. IT observed the motion of the seven stars in the Big Dipper between the hours of 8:00PM pm (ENTER THE DATE OF A CLEAR NIGHT IN YOUR AREA IN THE LAST WEEK) and 12:00 AM (THE NEXT DAY’s DATE), I used the North Star as a reference point, because it is known to appear stationary in the night sky, because of its vicinity to the true North Pole.
My process was to mark and record the position of the stars when I began my experiment at 8:00 PM, and then to return to the same point, a small gazebo, in 90 minute intervals, to observe and record the change in the stars’ positions. Generally, while I was facing the north, to observe the stars, the stars appeared to rise out of the east, and fall to the west as the night progressed.
While observing the natural movement of the stars in the sky, specifically as they related to Polaris, I used my fingers to gage the movement of the stars and determined that they moved about 22 degrees percent in each 90 minute period, constantly moving toward the western horizon. ((INSERT YOUR DIAGRAM HERE – IT MUST CONTAIN THREE SKETCHES, Each Should move 22.5 degrees to the west. The time stamps should be 8:10 PM for the first, 9:40, and 11:10.
My results are exactly what is expected in this case. The demonstrate that for each hour that passes, celestial bodies will move 15 degrees, or 1/24th of their total trip around the world. This totals 360 degrees each day, or a full revolution of the earth. This is because the movement we see in the stars is not actually the stars moving, but a direct reflection of the Earth’s rotational movement. Because I was using my fingers, and a rudimentary star chart to measure the movement of the stars in the sky, my exact measurements may be slightly off. This is the only known point of possible error in the experiment, which successfully demonstrated and measured the north circumpolar movement in the stars.