These are a set of videos made using planetarium software to help you see how the stars and planets move over the course of months and years. See what you think and tell us what you learned by writing your comments in the box below.


What’s odd about these star trails?

You can really feel the Earth rolling around under you as you watch these crazy star trails.
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Download Student Worksheet & Exercises


Do the planets follow the same arc across the night sky? You bet! All eight planets follow along the same arc that the sun follows, called the ecliptic. Here’s how the planets move across the sky:



Exercises:


  1. If you have constellations on your class ceiling, chart them on a separate page marking the positions of the rocks with X’s.
  2. Tonight, find two constellations that you will chart. Bring them with you tomorrow using the technique outlined above in Experiment.

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Comments

6 Responses to “Star & Planet Trails”

  1. Carol Emmert says:

    Oh thank you

  2. By pink, you mean the sky is pink? That’s because it’s sunrise/sunset ALL the time then.

  3. Carol Emmert says:

    why is March, September,and October pink? April, May, June, July, and August purple. but November December January and February normal?

  4. Lisa Durham says:

    Goodness, gracious! Sam

    I think it’s cool the way the sun goes straight down at the equator and the direction it goes in at the South Pole. Tesla

    I like it! Tyler

  5. Debra Thomson says:

    Wow that was awesome!!!!:) 🙂
    Holly Thomson

  6. Debra Thomson says:

    Woah, I didn’t realize that at Antarctica it actually got LIGHTER during the winter months, and darker in the summer!