Astronomy Post 2

My partner and I have found the binary stars we will use in order to measure the distance of Mars. We decided on using Castor A/B with Castor C. Cast A and B are too close together to measure them effectively, but C is not too far and not too close to both A and B. This will give us a good measurement so we can accurately measure the change in distance from start to finish for Mars.

Right now, we are pretty much done with our research. We have been waiting to take pictures and learn the equipment. The weather has not been good at all, which has been an issue and probably will continue to be an issue.

That being said, we also came up with a plan just in case we can't see Mars at opposition. Obviously, that would ruin our entire project. So, we just decided we would focus on the photos in that case and use what we have. There will still be a difference in distant from the first to last. If the weather is also good the day before opposition, we might take pictures then, just in case. 

I am doing the astro-photography research project with my partner, Kolin Campbell. We have been figuring out what our project will be and doing preliminary research for the first couple of weeks. We have now decided that we plan on tracking the opposition of Mars through photographs. The opposition happens on April 8th, which will give us 6 weeks of photos beforehand, if we start next week (the week of the 16th). We would like to look at the difference in our ability to see Mars, and take a clear picture, from the first picture to the last (opposition). When Mars is at opposition, it is the closest it can be to Earth.

In terms of research question or goals, we would like to find the difference in the distance of Mars from Earth. This would be accomplished by finding and taking a picture of a pair of stars, involving a binary one, that will not move. That way we will have an accurate scale to compare distance with. Also, being an astro-photography project, we would like to accomplish and figure out how to take better pictures of Mars than the previous students.

We are waiting to learn how to find Mars and use the equipment in the lab soon in order to take the best photography possibly. After that, we will at least have a better picture on where our project is going and how to handle it