Related papers: On times and shadows: the observational analemma
The primary objective of this paper is to construct an analytical model for determining the total duration of eclipse events of satellites. The approach assumes that the trace formed in the orbital plane, cutting body shadow under the…
We perform a situational diagnosis in topics of astronomy of pre-service elementary teachers in order to try and develop didactic tools that better collaborate with their formal education. In this work we present the instrument we designed…
The Sun is unique amongst stars in having a precisely determined age which does not depend on the modelling of stellar evolution. Furthermore, other global properties of the Sun are known to much higher accuracy than for any other star.…
The mechanism by which thermodynamics sets the direction of time's arrow has long fascinated scientists. Here, we show that a machine learning algorithm can learn to discern the direction of time's arrow when provided with a system's…
We propose an algorithm that can be used by amateur astronomers to analyze the images acquired during solar eclipses. The proposed algorithm analyzes the image, detects the eclipse and produces results for parameters like magnitude of…
A simple closed-form expression for the number of days between the winter solstice and the latest sunrise is derived. Formulas for the summer solstice and the sunset are derived as well. These approximate formulas make it easy to see the…
One of the main features of interest in analysing the light curves of stars is the underlying periodic behaviour. The corresponding observations are a complex type of time series with unequally spaced time points and are sometimes…
Early observations of sunspot were realised by the naked eye. Possible utilization of these records for studying the long-term change in the Sun is discussed here. Other historical sunspot observations with camera obscuras are also…
We show that if one or more of the `constants' of Nature can vary then their values, as measured in the laboratory, should oscillate over the year in a very particular way. These seasonal changes in the constants could well be detected, in…
The non-spherical shape of the Sun has been invoked to explain the anomalous precession of Mercury. A brief history of some methods for measuring solar diameter is presented. Archimedes was the first to give upper and lower values for solar…
In these notes, we do the computation of the formula giving the expression of solar energy received by an horizontal section of 1 square meter, relatively to the latitude, obliquity and current day (the quantity is also proportional to the…
The observation of celestial objects is a fundamental activity in astronomy. Ground-based and space telescopes are used to gather electromagnetic radiation from space, allowing astronomers to study a wide range of celestial objects and…
An intuitively necessary requirement of models used to provide forecasts of a system's future is the existence of shadowing trajectories that are consistent with past observations of the system: given a system-model pair, do model…
The number of spots on the surface of the Sun is one of the best tracers of solar variability we have. The sunspot number is not only known to change in phase with the 11-year solar cycles, but also to show variability on longer time…
A variety of indices have been proposed in order to represent the many different observables modulated by the solar cycle. Most of these indices are highly correlated with each other owing to their intrinsic link with the solar magnetism…
During the last century, with the development of modern physics in such diverse fields as thermodynamics, statistical physics, and nuclear and particle physics, the basic principles of the evolution of stars have been successfully well…
A qualitative understanding of the day-night asymmetry for solar neutrinos is provided. The greater night flux in nu_e is seen to be a consequence of the fact that the matter effect in the sun and that in the earth have the same sign. It is…
The occlusion of the sun by clouds is one of the primary sources of uncertainties in solar power generation, and is a factor that affects the wide-spread use of solar power as a primary energy source. Real-time forecasting of cloud movement…
The problem of prediction of a given time series is examined on the basis of recent nonlinear dynamics theories. Particular attention is devoted to forecast the amplitude and phase of one of the most common solar indicator activity, the…
Measuring the depth variation of the meridional flows is important for understanding the solar cycle, at least according to a number of dynamo models. While attempting to extend the early observations of \citet{giles_thesis} of…