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Project Summary
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Time required | Long (a couple of weeks) |
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| * Note: This is an abbreviated project idea, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk. |
Abstract
Let's suppose you can take advantage of the Internet and get a 'pen pal' located a 1000 miles away in another city. On the same night, and at EXACTLY the same time 'Universal Time', make a CAREFUL observation of where the Moon is located with respect to the background stars. You should be able to discern a slight (about 1/2 the Moon's diameter) shift in position due to parallax. Then, with a little geometry, you could estimate the distance of the Moon during the full lunar cycle (Odenwald, 1997). For another method of measuring the distance to the Moon, see Why Does the Moon Appear Larger at Some Times?.Bibliography
Odenwald, S., 1997. "Do you have any science fair suggestions for Middle School students?" Ask the Astronomer, Astronomy Cafe website [accessed July 31, 2006] http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q2077.html.Variations
- For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Astronomy Project Ideas.
Last edit date: 2006-12-14 13:52:17
Career Focus
If you like this project, you might want to think about career opportunities in
Astronomy.
Astronomers think big! They want to understand the entire universe—the nature of the Sun, Moon, planets, stars, galaxies, and everything in between. An astronomer's work can be pure science—gathering and analyzing data from instruments and creating theories about the nature of cosmic objects—or the work can be applied to practical problems in space flight and navigation, or satellite communications. Learn more about this career: Astronomer.
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