Category Archives: Astronomy

Correcting for Sextant Parallax Error

Posted on 24-October-2015 by mathscinotes

Navigators use the altitudes of solar system objects to assist them with determining their positions. The most commonly used solar system objects are the Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars. There is a small error caused by the fact that navigators are making their sextant measurements from the surface of the ocean and not from the center of the Earth, which is the reference point used by nautical almanacs. Parallax has no practical significance when measuring the positions of stars because they are so far away relative to the radius of the Earth. Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Naval History, Navigation | 1 Comment

Linking Data to a Visio Drawing

Posted on 3-August-2015 by mathscinotes

I enjoy collecting and occasionally creating pins for my Pinterest collection. There was one pin that I saw (Figure 1) that I thought would be a good exercise to use when I conduct training classes in Visio and Excel. This post will use a simple Excel table of planetary orbit data to drive the creation of similar graphic in Visio. I will make one change to the information contained in Figure 1 – I will add Pluto because I still like to think of it as a planet. I will also remove the black background because I find black a bit harsh for a background color. Continue reading →

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Barycenter of Pluto and Charon

Posted on 18-June-2015 by mathscinotes

I am excited about the New Horizon's flyby of the Pluto system (Figure 1) occurring on July 14, and I will be glued to my computer as the data is returning. Fortunately, there is already some data coming back on Pluto and its moons. One interesting aspect of the Pluto system is the fact that the mass ratio of Charon to Pluto is large enough that the barycenter of their orbit is outside the bodies of both Charon and Pluto. Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | 9 Comments

Sun's Galactic Orbital Speed

Posted on 4-June-2015 by mathscinotes

I was reading Quora this week and I saw the following statement that mentioned the orbital speed of the Sun as it revolves about center of the Milky Way. Continue reading →

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Space Station Math

Posted on 2-April-2015 by mathscinotes

I read an article this morning on a space station proposal concept from United Space Structures (Figure 1). I find it interesting that so many proposals for space station structures are appearing now. These proposal appear to be driven by recent discussions of asteroid capture , sending a married couple on a Mars flyby, and a Mars surface exploration mission. Continue reading →

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New Horizons Spacecraft Nearing Pluto

Posted on 29-March-2015 by mathscinotes

I have been following the voyage of the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto since its launch on January 19, 2006. It will flyby Pluto on July 14, 2015. I have already marked that day on my calendar! Continue reading →

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Cool Photo of Telescope Guide Stars

Posted on 18-March-2015 by mathscinotes

The use of adaptive optics requires that precise measurements be made of the disturbances present in the atmosphere so that they can be compensated for – a process known as deconvolution. These measurements are often made by reflecting light off of sodium atoms in the upper atmosphere. These reflections effectively create artificial stars known as guide stars (Figure 1). Continue reading →

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Radiation Exposure on a Trip to Mars

Posted on 10-January-2015 by mathscinotes

Quote of the Day You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way! — Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go!) Introduction I recently re-watched a 1955 science fiction classic, Conquest … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | 2 Comments

South Pole Communication

Posted on 21-December-2014 by mathscinotes

Quote of the Day The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. — Chinese Proverb Introduction I find the subject of Antarctica very interesting and I read as much as I can about it – especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Geometry | 2 Comments

Planetary Diameters Relative to the Moon's Orbit

Posted on 16-December-2014 by mathscinotes

I was reading an article on Stumbleupon that got me thinking about the size of the planets on a more imaginable scale – the distance between the Earth and moon. Here is a video that shows what the other planets … Continue reading →

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