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Basic Coordinates & Seasons Student Guide

There are three main sections to this module: terrestrial coordinates, celestial equatorial
coordinates, and understanding how the ecliptic is related to seasons on the Earth. Each
of these sections has its own simulator(s). The background material necessary to utilize
these tools is contained in each section.

Terrestrial Coordinates
Work through the explanatory material on units of longitude and latitude, finding
longitude and latitude, and a bit of history (optional).
1 Open the flat map explorer.
2 Familiarize yourself with the cursor and how it prints out the longitude and
latitude of the active map location.
3 Note that you can vary the central meridian of the map (i.e. change its longitude).
Use the shift map arrows at the top of the simulator to affect large rapid
changes. Use the shift-click feature of the cursor for finer control.
4 Note what information is accessible through the show cities and show map
features check boxes.
5 Center the cursor on your present location. Click the open Google Maps button to
launch the Google Map tool focused on this location. Experiment until you get a
good feeling for the Google Maps capabilities and then close this window. (Note
that you must be connected to the Internet to make use of this feature.)
Question 1: Use the flat map explorer to complete the following table. You are
encouraged to try and predict the answers and then use the maps cursor and other
features to check the accuracy of your estimates.
Location

Longitude

Latitude

157.5 W

21.2 N

Prime Meridian

51.8 N

82.1 W

Tropic of Cancer

International Date Line

Arctic Circle

The center of the island of Madagascar.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

90 W Meridian
30 N Parallel
Question 2: Determine which of the 50 states defines the farthest extent of the United
States in each of the 4 map directions.
NAAP Basic Coordinates &
Motions 1/8

Direction

State

North
South
East (there are two ways of
thinking about this)

West
Question 3: The exact coordinates of the white house in Washington D.C., are 77.0365 W
and 38.897 N. What are these exact coordinates in sexagesimal notation? Show your
calculation in the box below. (You can use the Google Map tool to check your answer.)

1 Open the globe explorer. You are encouraged to use the Terrestrial Coordinate
Explorers link which opens both simulators at the same time for the following two
questions. Familiarize yourself with the features noting that they are very similar to
those in the flat map explorer.
Question 4: A) Where is the north pole on the flat map explorer? What is its shape?

2) Where is the north pole on the globe explorer? What is its shape?

3) Your answers to parts A and B should be different. Explain why.

NAAP Basic Coordinates &

Motions 2/8

Question 5: Compare the relative sizes of Greenland and Australia in the two maps? The
2

true values of the surface areas for these countries are Greenland (2.2 million km ) and
2

Australia (7.7 million km ). Does each map demonstrate these true values?

Celestial Equatorial Coordinates

Work through the introductory material on the page entitled Celestial Equator,
Declination, Right Ascension.
1 Open either the Flat Sky Map Explorer or the Sky Map Explorer.
2 Familiarize yourself with the same set of features (cursor movement, shifting the
map, decimal/sexagesimal) that were available on the previous maps.
3 Make sure that you understand what each check box does.
Question 6: Where is the star Polaris located on this map? What are its coordinates?

Question 7: Find the constellation of Orion shown in the box below and measure the right
ascension and declination of its brightest stars Betelgeuse and Rigel. Note that Orion is
located on the celestial equator.

RA

RA

DEC

DEC

NAAP Basic Coordinates & Motions 3/8

Question 8: Which direction is east on the flat sky map? Relate this to a coordinate of the
celestial equatorial system.

Question 9: Complete the following table of positions on the ecliptic.

Ecliptic Location

Approximate Date

Vernal Equinox

March 21

Summer Solstice

June 21

Right Ascension

Declination

Autumnal Equinox
December 21
Question 10: Write out a description of the ecliptic on the flat sky map. What does the
shape look like? Describe the ecliptic in terms of its average and range of declination
values.

Seasons and the Ecliptic

Work through the introductory material on the page entitled Orbits and Light.
1 Open the Seasons and Ecliptic Simulator.
2 Note that there are three main panels (left, upper right, and lower right) each of
which have two different views. Controls run along the bottom of the simulation
that affect more than one panel. Click animate and then move through the six
views to get an overview this simulators capabilities. We will address each of
these six views separately.
3 Experiment with the various methods to advance time in the simulator. You may
click the start animate/stop animation button, drag the yearly time slider, or drag
either the sun or the earth in the left panel to advance time.
4 Note that this animation does not illustrate the rotation of the earth. Because the
timescales of rotation and revolution are so different, it isnt possible to
effectively show both simultaneously.

NAAP Basic Coordinates &

Motions 4/8

Left Panel Orbit View

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AAP Coo
Basic
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at es &
M
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5/8
Upper Right Panel View from Side

This view shows the earth as seen from a location in

the plane of the ecliptic along a line tangent to the
Earths orbit. It allows one to easily see the regions of
the Earth that are in daylight and those that are in
shadow.
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Coordin
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Motions
6/8
NAAP Basic

Question 11: The table below contains entries for the coordinates for the sun on the
ecliptic as well as the latitude at which the most direct and least direct rays of the sun
are hitting. Use the simulation to complete the table.

Date

RA

DEC

2.9 h

+16.5

Latitude of
Most Direct

Latitude of Least
Direct Ray

16.5 N

73.5 S

February 5
March 21
May 5
June 21
August 5
September 21
November 5
December 21

Question 12: Using the data in the table above, formulate general rules relating the
declination of the sun to the latitude where the most direct and least direct rays of the sun
are hitting.

Question 13: The region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn is
commonly known as the tropics. Using the sunlight data table from question 11, define
the significance of this region.

NAAP Basic Coordinates & Motions 7/8

Question 14: Using the sunlight data table from question 11, define the significance of the
region north of the Arctic Circle commonly referred to simply as the Arctic.

Question 15: Use the simulator to complete the table below. For each latitude write a
short paragraph which describes the variations in sunlight (seasons) that are experienced
at this latitude throughout the year.
Latitude

Description of Yearly Pattern of Sunlight

The noon suns angular height above the horizon ranges from 90 on the
vernal equinox, to 66.5 on the summer solstice, to 90 on the autumnal
equinox, and back to 66.5 on the winter solstice. Thus, the equator always
receives very direct intense sunlight throughout the year which accounts for
the very high temperatures.

23.5 N

41 N

66.5 N

90 N

NAAP Basic Coordinates &

Motions 8/8