Astronomy 161 - Introduction To Solar System Astronomy

Where are we? Where is someplace else? How do I get from here to there? These are questions we need to answer both on the Earth and in the Sky to assign a location to a place or celestial object on the surface of a sphere. We start by introducing angular units, and use them to describe the terrestrial system of latitude and longitude on the spherical Earth. We then define the Celestial Sphere, with its Celestial Equator and Poles, and begin to define an analogous coordinate system on the sky. An important wrinkle is that what part of the sky we see at any given time depends on both where we are on the Earth, and what date/time it is. This gives us the start of the coordinate system we need to begin our exploration of motions in the sky in the next lectures. Recorded 2006 Sep 26 in 100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.