Thanks to astronomical observations we know how the Earth and the other planets of the Solar System move and also where we are in our galaxy and with respect to the rest of the galaxies in the Universe.

The study of the motions of the planets and other objects has also made possible the determination of laws of motion that describe how all bodies move under the effect of a force, such as gravity, or in the absence of it.

Introduction

Which are these laws of motion? How were they obtained? What information can we obtain by studying planetary motions? Find the answers to these questions in this unit.

Download here the INTRODUCTION.

Activities

Do you want to test the laws of planetary motion and calculate by yourself the mass of our star, the Sun, or the mass of Jupiter? We offer you two activities with which you can put your knowledge into practice and work with real images obtained with the Liverpool Telescope, just as professional astronomers do.

Mass of the Sun

In Astronomy and Astrophysics we can obtain a lot of information from objects in the Universe even though they are very far away and we cannot get close to them. One example is the quantification of the mass of our star, the Sun. In this activity you will see how we can calculate the mass of the Sun from observations of the planets. We suggest that you do the calculations and compare your results with the mass of other stars, which you can find by researching on the Internet. Is the Sun one of the heaviest stars or a rather normal one?

• Download the GUIDE of the activity.

Galilean Satellites

The laws of planetary motion are not only valid for the planets, they are also valid to describe the motion of the satellites around the planet they orbit. In this activity you will be able to calculate the orbits of some of Jupiter’s satellites and calculate the mass of the planet, using real images of Jupiter and its moons obtained with the Liverpool Telescope.

• Download the GUIDE of the activity.
• Download the images of the JUPITER SATELLITES you are going to work with.
• If you haven’t already done so, download the software (PeterSoft) to view and analyse the images.

Remember you can also obtain your own images of the planets in  “Quiero Observar” and make new measurements and investigations.

Activity Data

Concepts: The origins of Astronomy. The Laws of Motion. Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. The Titius-Bode Law.

Tools to learn to use: Brightness and distances.

Estimated time: 4 hours.

Authors: Oswaldo González, Nayra Rodríguez, Alfred Rosenberg, Inés Bonet.

Materials for educators: Teacher’s guide