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Hale-Bopp Comet files for Voyager II



Hi Physics Phriends,

If you have the Voyager II astronomy program for the Mac but do not have
time to set up the files for the Hale-Bopp comet and the retrograde motion
of Mars to show your students, please send me a private e-mail and I will
reply with the following files attached. All you have to do is open and
hit the + time step.

1. File: Hale-Bopp 10/1/96 edge -=> Shows the motion of the comet starting
last October as seen from outside the orbit of Mars in a "edge" on view of
the ecliptic. x = -1.7660 au, y = -0.6428 au, z = 0.684 au. As the comet
moves on a time step of one day, you will also see the earth pass up mars,
which, of course, will also happen this spring.

2. File: Hale-Bopp 10/1/96 above -=> Same as #1 but looking from "above"
the solar system. x = 12.5 au, y = 0, z = 21.5 au. Since the comet is
inclined at 89 degree to the ecliptic, one cannot get a "good" view of the
orbit looking directly down on the solar system.

3. File: Hale-Bopp 3/1 8 pm DF -=> Shows the motion of the comet across
the sky from March 1 (starting below the horizon) to late May as seen at 8
p.m. from Deerfield, IL looking in a northwesterly direction. Date are
printed on the screen at 3 positions. You can easily change the location
to where you live.

4. File: Hale-Bopp 1/1 5 am DF -=> Same as #3 but the comet is seen in
the northeasterly direction from Deerfield, IL at 5:00 a.m. Comet is above
the horizon at 5:00 a.m. from mid-January to mid-April.

5. File: Hale-Bopp 4/1, 8 pm, look NW -=> A zoomed in view of the comet
at its perhelion looking NW from Deerfield, IL.

6. File: Earth/Mars 8/94 above -=> Looking from above the solar system (x
= 0, y = 0, z = 5.0 au) and starting at the beginning of the school year in
1994, hit the time step button, and watch the earth pass Mars twice. Feb.
1995 and March 1997.

7. File: Mars 10/96 -=> Looking at a fixed point in the sky from the
center of the earth, watch Mars trace out its retrograde loop as it moves
from Oct. 11, 1996 to mid-August, 1997. Since the time step can go
backward, one can find when Mars reverses it direction of travel and when
Earth and Mars are lined up with the sun (opposition).

8. File: Mars 1/97 look -=> Traces the path of Mars across the sky (with
dates) as seen from Deerfield, IL at 11:00 p.m. One can easily find out
where to look for Mars. For example, on March 24, 1997, look slightly east
of south, about 50 degrees up from the horizon.

If your students are anything like my students, they loved seeing how the
motion of the comet and the motion of Earth/Mars appeared from various view
points. And they are anxiously awaiting a good time to view the comet. We
use an overhead projection apparatus to project the motion up on a screen
from my Mac IIsi. Several students have started playing around with the
Voyager II program in the computer room. Even Deerfield science teachers
who don't know anything about the Voyager II program except how to open and
run a file have enjoyed showing it to their students.

Oh by the way, if you want to enter your own orbital parameters for the
Hale-Bopp comet, they are published in the Astro Notes of the December,
1996 issue of TPT (The Physics Teacher) or I'm sure you can get them off
the web (there are apparently 43,132 web sites which reference the
Hale-Bopp comet).

I'm sure this information has already been on Physhare and Phys-l before
but I didn't get back on this school year until winter break, so I
apologize for any duplication. Hopefully, some of you can make use of the
files.

Bye, DiRT

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David R. Thiessen FUN + PHYSICS = PHUN
Science Department PHYSICS IS PHUN !!
Deerfield High School
1959 North Waukegan Road Education increases your freedom
Deerfield, IL 60015 Because It Increases Your Options !!
Home phone (815) 337-2883
School phone (708) 405-8488 Education will enrich your life
Voice Mail (708) 374-3811 then *610 Even if it doesn't enhance your income !!
School Fax (708) 945-0970
Remember when students brought teachers
Apples instead of driving them bananas ??

dthiessn@nslsilus.org (Quote sources long forgotten)
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