How do astronomers predict planetary alignment?
(Posted by: Katie O on 2009-02-05 14:52:29) In geometry tho? need an answer asap…please n’ thank you Answers: Posted by: Paul in San Diego on 2009-02-05, 15:18:09 We know how long it takes each planet to orbit the sun. So, we know what position each of the planets will be in its orbit at any given moment in time. We also know what our position will be relative to the planets at any given moment in time. So, we can plug all that data into a computer model that determines how all the planets will be aligned at any time in the future, either the actual physical alignment or how they appear in our sky. Posted by: José Frink on 2009-02-05, 15:03:19 Planetary alignments are total nonevents to astronomers. They don’t typically waste their time predicting them. Positions of planets in the sky are predicted using Kepler’s Three Laws of planetary motion and the known orbital parameters of the planets. Posted by: Tina L on 2009-02-05, 15:03:56 They use orbital models to calculate the positions
The orbit paths and speeds of the planets are now so well known, astronomers use software and computers to simply project into the future where the planets would be at any given day and moment, including looking for instances of planetary grouping, or alignment. It’s not any different from predicting solar or lunar eclipses. In the older days, mechanical orreys were used to make such predictions.
We know how long it takes each planet to orbit the sun. So, we know what position each of the planets will be in its orbit at any given moment in time. We also know what our position will be relative to the planets at any given moment in time. So, we can plug all that data into a computer model that determines how all the planets will be aligned at any time in the future, either the actual physical alignment or how they appear in our sky.
