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HEY ASTROLOGY FREAKS! What does this crap signify?
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F~A~R~V~A-Yankee Northern Allfather
Jan 2, 2011, 3:28:13 AM1/2/11
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Night Sky: Uranus to align with Jupiter this week
Event will be unusual opportunity to observe two 'gas giant' planets in
same field of view
LiveScience
This week, for the third time in eight months, Jupiter has a close
encounter with Uranus, seen in this telescopic view at a magnification
of 100 power.
By Geoff Gaherty
Space.com
This week, for the third time in eight months, Uranus will have a "close
encounter" with Jupiter. Jupiter is currently the brightest object in
the evening sky, being high in the south at sunset, and setting in the
west around 11 p.m. ET.
As seen in a small telescope, Uranus will pass within half a degree
north of Jupiter, giving an unusual opportunity to observe two "gas
giant" planets in the same field of view. This juxtaposition will show
just how different these two planets are in apparent size. Jupiter will
measure 38 arc seconds in diameter, more than ten times the size of
Uranus, 3.5 arc seconds.
Uranus in turn will dwarf Jupiter's four brightest moons, ranging in
size from tiny Europa (0.84 arc seconds) to Ganymede (1.4 arc seconds).
[ Diagram of the Jupiter-Uranus close encounter ]
Angular distances in the sky are measured in degrees, arc minutes and
arc seconds. There are 360 degrees in a circle, 60 arc minutes in a
degree, and 60 arc seconds in an arc minute. The Big Dipper measures 25
degrees across, and the sun and moon are both half a degree (30 arc
minutes) across. Thus, Jupiter is about 1/50 of the diameter of the
moon, comparable in angular size to a medium-size lunar crater.
Despite their apparent proximity as seen from Earth, Uranus and Jupiter
are separated by 15.21 astronomical units, an astronomical unit being
the average distance from Earth to the sun, 93 million miles (150
million km).
This is the third time Jupiter has passed Uranus since June. How can
this be? It is because we observe the movement of the planets from a
platform, the planet Earth, which is also in motion. Because of these
changing perspectives, the planets farther from the sun than Earth
appear to describe loops against the background of the stars. These are
called "retrograde loops," and were a source of difficulty to early
astronomers who failed to realize that the sun was the true center of
the solar system.
Jupiter's first encounter with Uranus was on June 8, when it passed
within 26 arc minutes. Jupiter reversed its apparent direction of motion
on July 24, and passed Uranus in the opposite direction on Sept. 18 at a
distance of 48 arc minutes. Jupiter reversed its apparent direction
again on Nov. 19, and will be passing Uranus again on Jan. 4 at a
distance of 31 arc minutes.
Of course, the planets themselves cannot reverse directions, but always
move in one direction at a steady speed. It is Earth's more rapid motion
that makes the outer planets appear to halt, reverse, halt again, and
then speed up.
Sky Calendar: Observing Events for December 2010
Gallery: Planets of the Solar System
Telescopes for Beginners
This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education, the
leader in space science curriculum solutions.
© 2010 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
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Event will be unusual opportunity to observe two 'gas giant' planets in
same field of view
LiveScience
This week, for the third time in eight months, Jupiter has a close
encounter with Uranus, seen in this telescopic view at a magnification
of 100 power.
By Geoff Gaherty
Space.com
This week, for the third time in eight months, Uranus will have a "close
encounter" with Jupiter. Jupiter is currently the brightest object in
the evening sky, being high in the south at sunset, and setting in the
west around 11 p.m. ET.
As seen in a small telescope, Uranus will pass within half a degree
north of Jupiter, giving an unusual opportunity to observe two "gas
giant" planets in the same field of view. This juxtaposition will show
just how different these two planets are in apparent size. Jupiter will
measure 38 arc seconds in diameter, more than ten times the size of
Uranus, 3.5 arc seconds.
Uranus in turn will dwarf Jupiter's four brightest moons, ranging in
size from tiny Europa (0.84 arc seconds) to Ganymede (1.4 arc seconds).
[ Diagram of the Jupiter-Uranus close encounter ]
Angular distances in the sky are measured in degrees, arc minutes and
arc seconds. There are 360 degrees in a circle, 60 arc minutes in a
degree, and 60 arc seconds in an arc minute. The Big Dipper measures 25
degrees across, and the sun and moon are both half a degree (30 arc
minutes) across. Thus, Jupiter is about 1/50 of the diameter of the
moon, comparable in angular size to a medium-size lunar crater.
Despite their apparent proximity as seen from Earth, Uranus and Jupiter
are separated by 15.21 astronomical units, an astronomical unit being
the average distance from Earth to the sun, 93 million miles (150
million km).
This is the third time Jupiter has passed Uranus since June. How can
this be? It is because we observe the movement of the planets from a
platform, the planet Earth, which is also in motion. Because of these
changing perspectives, the planets farther from the sun than Earth
appear to describe loops against the background of the stars. These are
called "retrograde loops," and were a source of difficulty to early
astronomers who failed to realize that the sun was the true center of
the solar system.
Jupiter's first encounter with Uranus was on June 8, when it passed
within 26 arc minutes. Jupiter reversed its apparent direction of motion
on July 24, and passed Uranus in the opposite direction on Sept. 18 at a
distance of 48 arc minutes. Jupiter reversed its apparent direction
again on Nov. 19, and will be passing Uranus again on Jan. 4 at a
distance of 31 arc minutes.
Of course, the planets themselves cannot reverse directions, but always
move in one direction at a steady speed. It is Earth's more rapid motion
that makes the outer planets appear to halt, reverse, halt again, and
then speed up.
Sky Calendar: Observing Events for December 2010
Gallery: Planets of the Solar System
Telescopes for Beginners
This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education, the
leader in space science curriculum solutions.
© 2010 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
Related slideshows
Year in Space: 2010
More from Space
- New cracks found on space shuttle's fuel tank
- New Year's Eve show stars Venus and the moon
- 'Zombie' satellite comes back to life
- Buzz Aldrin sues trading-card company Topps
- Russian officials punished for satellite screw-up
- European rocket launches two satellites
Video coverage
Anti-spam crusader cashes in by suing spammers
Man quits job, makes a million suing spammers (01:56)
Hackers to target phones, social media in 2011 (03:07)
Ancient teeth may alter human origin theory
Top online risks for 2011
More videos in Technology & science
Search msnbc.com
1 Top stories
2 Business
3 Sports | Scores
4 U.S. news
5 World news
6 Politics
7 Tech & science
8 Entertainment
9 Health
- Travel
-
-
- Nightly News
- TODAY
- Dateline
- Meet the Press
- Countdown
- Rachel Maddow
-
-
- See news breaking?
- Podcasts
- Local news
- News alerts
0 MSN home
*Top # Bottom
Switch to regular msnbc.com site
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2011 MSNBC.com
35% (31.67 kB) saved
Skweezer | Hide Images | New Bookmark | Translate | Company
Page optimized for mobile device, click here to view without Skweezer.
© 2001-2011 Skweezer
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/'/ / / /" /_\
('( ' Fuck /' ')
\ You' /
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CRIPES A'MIGHTY 3RD
STICK IT UP WITH MAMMY'S SUPPOSITORIES!
AND
DON'T TAZE MY GRANNY!
rob
Jan 3, 2011, 10:04:59 AM1/3/11
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