NOTES & HINTS ON HOMEWORK #9

• Work through the problem one part at a time, working the parts in order.
• Be sure to read the notes and hints at the end of the handout.
• The answer to part (a) is: December 9, 2011, 01:00. (Be sure you understand how this is found.)
• For part (b): look up the date in part (a) in the table of Julian Days in the handout, then add 1/24 day. The answer is: 2455904.54166667.
• Be careful with units in part (d). The answer is provided so you can check your work.
• You've essentially solved the problem by part (m), but you may work the rest of the problem for additional credit.
• If you'd like to check your answers up through part (g), you can find my computer-generated answers here.
• You can check your final answer using the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory HORIZONS System.
  • Change the “Target Body” to Jupiter [599].
  • Change the “Time Span” to 2011-12-08 to 2011-12-10 in steps of 1 hour.
  • Under “Table Settings”, change the angle format to “decimal degrees”.
  • Press the “Generate Ephemeris” button. This will generate a table of positions of Jupiter, including columns for right ascension (R.A.) and declination (DEC.). Look for the line for 2011-Dec-09 01:00 (times are displayed in Universal Time).

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