Astronomy Question: Stars in the sky…
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Travis in New Jersey asks:
Why do the stars move so slowly in the sky even though our earth spins so fast?
EXCELLENT question Travis!
Simple to explain.
Notice when you are driving that things in the distance appear to move slowly, while road signs a few feet away zip by?
Same phenomenon.
Even though the earth is rotating quickly ( about 1600 km/h …) the closest celestial object (The Moon) is 384,000 km away. The closest star, Proxima Centauri is 3.97 × 10^13 km away!
If you want to experience the apparent motion of the stars across the sky, simply view one in a non-motorized telescope. The star will wander out of the field of view within a minute.
DA
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:04:51
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2010/07/27/stars-in-the-sky/
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