Planetary Conjunctions — Starter

ASTR 101 — Orbits & Sky Motion 2 demos ~25 min 1 required

A short sequence that builds intuition for conjunctions as a geometric + timing consequence of orbital motion.

Instructions

1) Before touching controls, write a one-sentence prediction: which pair will conjoin sooner, inner or outer planets?
2) Do the required demo and record one piece of evidence.
3) If time, do the optional demo to justify your explanation with orbital-period reasoning.

Journey

Planetary Conjunctions: Alignments in the Sky

Required 8 min

Core: identify conjunctions and connect them to synodic period.

Kepler’s Laws: Patterns of Planetary Motion

Optional 12 min

Optional extension: tie conjunction frequency to orbital period.

Notes

Use this as a quick in-class activity or a short homework mini-lab.