I was star-gazing with a friend the other night, and she asked the question "Do they always stay in the same spot every night?" and i couldn't answer her lol. So i was wondering, do they? Thanks in advance =)
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The stars change position during the night as the Earth rotates and also as the Earth revolves around the Sun. The stars you see tonight at 10 pm will be 30° further west in one months time at 10 pm.
As Donut Tim said the stars don't move a noticeable amount with regards to each other in a lifetime, the constellations change slowly over thousands of years. The motion I have described in their motion on the celestial sphere. The stars rotate around the celestial north pole, Polaris is nearly on the celestial north pole. The constellations rotate once per day around the celestial north pole and also once per year around the celestial north pole.
As Donut Tim said the stars don't move a noticeable amount with regards to each other in a lifetime, the constellations change slowly over thousands of years. The motion I have described in their motion on the celestial sphere. The stars rotate around the celestial north pole, Polaris is nearly on the celestial north pole. The constellations rotate once per day around the celestial north pole and also once per year around the celestial north pole.
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If you look at the same stars at the same time every night, they will change position slightly because of the Earth's change in tilt; they will appear farther north in the summer and farther south in the winter.
If you look at them at the same time on the same day every year, however, there will be no noticeable change in their position over your lifetime.
If you look at them at the same time on the same day every year, however, there will be no noticeable change in their position over your lifetime.
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If you mean the stars changing position in relation to each other then, no. They don't move enough in a person's lifetime to be noticeable.
However, the stars change position each night because the Earth is in motion and our viewpoint changes.
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However, the stars change position each night because the Earth is in motion and our viewpoint changes.
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The sky, and everything in it, appears to rise and set each day due to the Earth's rotation, but the positions of stars relative to each other does not change much in hundreds of years.