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Re: (meteorobs) RA & Dec
ra & dec are easy; just take Earth's latitude & longitude, using your
imagination extend it to beyond earth, and call it ra & dec, and you got
it!
Cook, Earl wrote:
>
> Hi, everyone,
>
> This is really for anyone who is a frustrated Astronomy professor.
>
> I took a basic astronomy course in college, but that was so far
> back that a black hole was considered to be one of the caves we
> used to explore. Believe me, it's been a looooooong time, and
> I have forgotten soooooooo much.
>
> One thing I've always had trouble with it Right Ascension and
> Declination. I just came back from an hour at the public library.
> I plundered through every book on astronomy they had, and
> couldn't find one good explanation of these. I couldn't find
> "Astronomy for Real Dummies" either. Even the two books
> I checked out (which are tooted as "beginners" or "basic"
> books, leave me confused.
>
> OK, one of you "professorial" type guys help me out here.
> My location (according to USGS) is Lat 38d,21m; long 85d,54m.
> (Forget the "seconds" right now.) Assume I am standing on my
> back deck facing north and have a clear view of the Big Dipper
> and Polaris. How do I take a position reference, such as:
> RA: 14h,14m, Dec: 19d,18m and find it in the sky?
>
> Conversely, if I spot something in the sky and I want to make
> reference to it, how do I calculate the RA and Dec (reasonably
> close) so I can tell some one else?
>
> I know that for some of you this question is as simple as "how
> do I tell when the moon is full?", but try to help me. Please,
> keep it simple. My mind ain't as young as it used to be, and
> these library books ain't helping any.
>
> RGDS:EARL
--
Earl W. Phillips, Jr.
Phillips Design
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