I'm afraid I have really no idea. I didn't even know Jupiter was not part of the solar system until what? something happened. But you can obviously choose yourself how to define vesta, a terrestrial planet or a large asteroid.
I'm afraid I have really no idea. I didn't even know Jupiter was not part of the solar system until what? something happened. But you can obviously choose yourself how to define vesta, a terrestrial planet or a large asteroid.
I don't either. But I had never thought of Ceres being a planet before. Or Vesta. Maybe the criteria of having an interior that heated up at one point would quality. However, then the Moon would be a planet.
Although I have not seen the retrograde movement of Jupiter outside, I was able to note the change on the app. I am looking forward to trying to make out Leo outside. The moon is quite bright now and past Leo.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
I agree, except that the moon - perhaps Luna is a better name - is a moon, that is it is captive in the orbit of another planet, Earth.
It was full moon yesterday, I saw it near Jupiter a couple of days before. I am not well up on constellations, Orion and the Plough are the only two I can identify with any confidence.
The first constellation I could identify was Big dipper. My father showed it to me when I was a child. It is best visible in Apil.
...........
“All" human beings "by nature desire to know.” ― Aristotle
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
Ceres isn't a planet, it's an asteroid. Don't listen to those who call it a micro-planet, or whatever, you'll just encourage them. Probably the same people who say Pluto isn't a planet. They are trying to destroy my childhood certainties, and historical precedent, and that's not nice. Don't rock my world by unnecessary reclassification of rocksOriginally Posted by YesNo
The Moon is the Moon, if you go around calling it Luna people will think you are a lunatic
This is an update from the journal blog..
That was an amazing blog post by Marc Rayman. It looks like ion propulsion works getting Dawn to visit both Vesta and Ceres.
Now to find out what those two bright spots are.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
I just finished reading Bob Berman's article in the April "Astronomy" in the library called "Dark vs super dark". He was commenting on how bright the sky is for most of us. He wrote this about super dark places:
The Milky Way "pops" and totally dominates the sky dome. It casts shadows.
I can barely see the Milky Way, let alone any shadows.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
The nights have been clear and I have been able to see Venus and Jupiter clearly. it is also warmer. According to Sky Map Uranus and Mars were in near conjunction. What amazed me was how high the ecliptic was. Of course, I knew the sun got higher in the sky, but I didn't really think about it before. I am going to try to find Saturn.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
Have you managed to see the Zodiacal light? It occurs just after full dark and In the spring it can be seen in the southwest. In the autumn it is a pre-dawn phenomena.
I can't see the spring Zodiacal light. Too many trees in that direction and made impossible by the tall road junction double street corner lights. I will look again in the autumn when it will be pre-dawn and so in the northeast, which should be easier.
The Exozodiacal dust is the name for the phenomena on other planets.
It is meant to be the sunlight reflected off cosmic dust. In Islam the false dawn of this zodiacal light has an important place in the timing of the five daily prayers. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiaca...tance_to_Islam.
I haven't seen the zodiacal light. With the light pollution where I am I would probably not be able to, however, I will keep that in mind as something to look for when I get to Wisconsin later this Spring. Sometimes the skies there are very dark and the "seeing" is clear. I was planning to look for Saturn but I would have to get up early. There is a park I could walk to where it is darker, but I plan to drive to Lake Michigan one of these days and watch the Sun rise.
Trying to find the direction to Mecca (qibla) is an interesting problem. Although I understand the astrolabe would help with this, I don't see how this works. Come to think of it, there is probably an app for the phone that would show this direction.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
This from earth sky (15 March) suggests that Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, may have oceans beneath its ice: http://earthsky.org/space/underground-ocean-on-jupiters-largest-moon
Nice article. I didn't know Ganymede had aurorae. That would mean Ganymede has a magnetic field. Although I don't follow how the interference between Jupiter's magnetic field and Ganymede's implies there is an ocean below, it seems plausible. I was amazed at how deep the ocean and ice are predicted to be.
This morning I saw the old moon as the sun rose. I guess we will have a new moon for the vernal equinox.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
Have to agree with that. EarthSky has a post on Ceres, I wondered why it was taking so long for Dawn to get better images, it has been in orbit round Ceres for a couple of days or more. It seems it will be gradually going lower in orbit, presumably using its ion propulsion to brake, until it can start to map and investigate the dwarf planet, in a couple of weeks time. Here is a quote:
Fortunately, we won’t have to wait much longer before we get some more definitive answers to questions of Ceres’ physical structure and heritage. By the beginning of April, the Dawn spacecraft will be much closer and will start its imaging campaign in earnest, at which point we will start seeing craters and other surface features at better resolution
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
