| | |
| | |
Stat |
Members: 3643 Articles: 2'487'895 Articles rated: 2609
29 March 2024 |
|
| | | |
|
Article overview
| |
|
Measuring the speed of light and the moon distance with an occultation of Mars by the Moon: a Citizen Astronomy Campaign | Jorge I. Zuluaga
; Juan C. Figueroa
; Jonathan Moncada
; Alberto Quijano-Vodniza
; Mario Rojas
; Leonardo D. Ariza
; Santiago Vanegas
; Lorena Aristizábal
; Jorge L. Salas
; Luis F. Ocampo
; Jonathan Ospina
; Juliana Gómez
; Helena Cortés
; | Date: |
1 Jun 2015 | Abstract: | In July 5th 2014 an occultation of Mars by the Moon was visible in South
America. Citizen scientists and professional astronomers in Colombia, Venezuela
and Chile performed a set of simple observations of the phenomenon aimed to
measure the speed of light and lunar distance. This initiative is part of the
so called "Aristarchus Campaign", a citizen astronomy project aimed to
reproduce observations and measurements made by astronomers of the past.
Participants in the campaign used simple astronomical instruments (binoculars
or small telescopes) and other electronic gadgets (cell-phones and digital
cameras) to measure occultation times and to take high resolution videos and
pictures. In this paper we describe the results of the Aristarchus Campaign. We
compiled 9 sets of observations from sites separated by distances as large as
2,500 km. We achieve at measuring the speed of light in vacuum and lunar
distance with uncertainties of few percents. The goal of the Aristarchus
Campaigns is not to provide improved values of well-known astronomical and
physical quantities, but to demonstrate how the public could be engaged in
scientific endeavors using simple instrumentation and readily available
technological devices. These initiatives could benefit amateur communities in
developing countries increasing their awareness towards their actual
capabilities for collaboratively obtaining useful astronomical data. This kind
of exercises would prepare them for facing future and more advanced
observational campaigns where their role could be crucial. | Source: | arXiv, 1506.0346 | Services: | Forum | Review | PDF | Favorites |
|
|
No review found.
Did you like this article?
Note: answers to reviews or questions about the article must be posted in the forum section.
Authors are not allowed to review their own article. They can use the forum section.
browser claudebot
|
| |
|
|
|
| News, job offers and information for researchers and scientists:
| |