Astronomy Worksheet: Earth-Moon Distances, Apollo Travel Times, & Andromeda Light Journey, Assignments of Astronomy

Download Astronomy Worksheet: Earth-Moon Distances, Apollo Travel Times, & Andromeda Light Journey and more Assignments Astronomy in PDF only on Docsity! Astronomy C10/L&S C70U Discussion Sections 102,104 Week 1 Group Worksheet Nicholas McConnell, GSI 1. The relative sizes of the Earth and the moon can be roughly approximated by a soccer ball and a tennis ball. Guess how far you would separate these objects to proportionally demonstrate the distance between the Earth and moon. Note: the soccer ball’s radius is approximately 11 cm. 2. Now revise your guess based on the following information: the Earth’s radius is roughly 6400 km, and the average distance to the moon is roughly 384,000 km. (To make the numbers easier, roughly estimate 6000 km and 360,000 km). 3. In the Apollo 11 mission, three astronauts traveled from the Earth to the moon in about 3 days. In comparison, it takes light just over 1 second to travel this distance. If light travels from the Earth to the Sun in 500 seconds, how long would the Apollo astronauts need to make this journey? 4. About how long would it take the Apollo astronauts to reach Alpha Centauri, 4.3 light years away? (Hint: There are 86,400 seconds in one day. Again, you should round numbers liberally to make the math easier.)