rcmcc@whuxi.UUCP (MC_CONNELL) (01/21/85)
Has anyone noticed the TV commercial by the Alaskan Tourist Bureau ( or Agency or something) on the early, 6:30-7:00am, network news shows? It ends up with a sketch of the sky showing the Big Dipper, Polaris and the Moon next to each other. That might be worth going to Alaska to see. Ron McConnell, whuxi!mruxd!rcmcc Bell Communications Research
johnston@spp1.UUCP (01/24/85)
> Has anyone noticed the TV commercial > by the Alaskan Tourist Bureau ( or Agency or something) > on the early, 6:30-7:00am, network news shows? > It ends up with a sketch of the sky showing > the Big Dipper, Polaris and the Moon > next to each other. That might be worth > going to Alaska to see. > > Ron McConnell, whuxi!mruxd!rcmcc > Bell Communications Research Is this possible? I'm not any where near an expert on celestial objects so I could be wrong ( or maybe the posting is facetious). Of course Polaris is visible from Alaska but it would seem to be at right angles to the moon. Mike Johnston
wls@astrovax.UUCP (William L. Sebok) (01/28/85)
>> Has anyone noticed the TV commercial by the Alaskan Tourist Bureau (or >> Agency or something) on the early, 6:30-7:00am, network news shows? >> It ends up with a sketch of the sky showing the Big Dipper, Polaris and the >> Moon next to each other. That might be worth going to Alaska to see. > > Is this possible? I'm not any where near an expert on celestial objects so > I could be wrong (or maybe the posting is facetious). Sublety tends to be lost on the net. The moon is to be found close to the ecliptic, that great circle on the sky that the sun also follows (physically this is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun). This is near the celestial equator and nowhere near the north celestial pole where Polaris and the Big Dipper are to be found. -- Bill Sebok Princeton University, Astrophysics {allegra,akgua,burl,cbosgd,decvax,ihnp4,noao,princeton,vax135}!astrovax!wls
cromwell@pur-ee.UUCP (Cromwell) (01/28/85)
From Alaska, the relative positions of Polaris, the Big Dipper, (yeah, I know it's really Ursa Major) and the moon would not really be any different than anywhere else on the Earth. If they appeared in a certain arrangement in Alaska, they also would anywhere else, assuming they are visible. The apparant angular displacement of the moon against the stellar background when views from the north pole versus the equator would be on the order of about 1 degree, I think. (this is based on the Earth having an angular diameter of 2 degrees when viewed from the moon) Of course, Polaris would be much closer to being overhead, and the moon would be much lower, close to the southern horizon most of the time. Bob Cromwell .