Saturn: The Great Ringed Planet
Saturn is the first object I ever viewed through a telescope and a big part of the reason that I love astronomy. Saturn is often the first target for many first time telescope users. Even through a good pair of astronomy binoculars the rings of Saturn can be seen.
Saturn, like the other gas giants of the solar system, is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. Like Jupiter, Saturn also has cloud bands that are quite spectacular to view. Since Saturn is mostly yellowish in color, it's more difficult to see the banding than it is with Jupiter. Jupiter has many different colors of cloud bands. When you think of a ringed planet, Saturn is usually the first planet that comes to mind, however, all of the gas giants have rings. None of them are as massive or noticeable as those of Saturn, but they are still spectacular on their own.
The rings of Saturn are made up of small pieces of rock, ice, and dust. The majority of it being water ice. The ring material ranges in size from under a centimeter up to the size of a house. If the rings of Saturn were viewed edge on, they would barely be noticeable because they are so thin. There are many gaps in the ring system known as divisions. The largest of which is the Cassini Division. This division can easily be seen through a telescope.
Saturn also has many moons. In fact, it has the most moons of any planet in the solar system. Saturn is its own mini solar system! The current count is 62 but more are always being discovered. The moon sizes range from just a few miles in diameter to almost the size of Mars! Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and is the second largest moon in the solar system, rivaled only by Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter. There are even moons found in the rings of Saturn. These moons help shape the ring system. Many of the moons have their own interesting facts that I will talk about in a future post.
There is currently a robotic visitor at Saturn. It has been an ongoing mission for nearly 10 years, starting in June of 2004. It has been studying the ring system, the moons, and many different features of Saturn itself. Some of these features include the cloud bands, north and south poles, and the magnetosphere. Cassini also had a craft named Huygens that went along on the mission. Huygens mission was to separate from Cassini, fly through the atmosphere of Titan, and land on the moon. It successfully completed it's mission in 2005. Several incredible pictures have been taken with Cassini's on-board camera as well. These pictures can be found at the the official Cassini mission website by clicking here.
In our current night sky, Saturn can be seen towards the Southeast after the Sun sets. Saturn was at opposition (opposite of the Sun from the perspective of Earth) on May 10th. It will be the yellow "star" in the Southeast that does not twinkle. It won't appear any brighter than the nearby stars, so be sure to look closely for it!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Mars
The best time to view the Red Planet is now! On April 8th Mars was at opposition, (opposite of the setting Sun from Earths perspective) making it a bright red dot in the early night sky. During the next few weeks, Mars rises in the East as the Sun sets in the West. Each night, Mars will rise slightly earlier than the previous night. Mars made its closest approach to the Earth on April 15th. Many people will be looking at Mars through a telescope or binoculars and taking many pictures. Even if you don't own any astronomy equipment, Mars is still a nice sight with the naked eyes. It's very easy to see as soon as the Sun sets. It will be the bright red "star" high in the sky and to the South.
Mars is about half the size of the Earth but has many interesting features. Mars is home to the largest known volcano in the solar system: Olympus Mons. It is about 3 times higher than Mount Everest and has a diameter of over 340 miles. Mars is also the home to a giant "Grand Canyon". Valles Marineris (Mariner Valley) stretches just under a quarter of the distance around Mars. Valles Marineris is so big that the Grand Canyon would be just a small side canyon branching off from the main body.
Be sure to pack your thermals, a space blanket, and a space heater for the winter temperatures on Mars! It will get down to -125° C (-195° F) during the winter and near the north and south poles. You might also want to pack a light jacket and maybe even a pair of shorts and flip flops if you plan on staying near the equator during the summer months. It gets up to a comfortable 20° C (70° F) during this time.
A Martian day is only slightly longer than an Earth day, lasting only an extra 40 minutes. Since Mars is quite a bit farther away from the Sun than the Earth, the Martian year is almost as long as 2 Earth years! Since the Martian day is slightly longer than an Earth day, if you were living on Mars, a year would be about 669 days.
The atmosphere on Mars is very thin and mostly consists of carbon dioxide. The atmosphere would not protect humans from the dangerous amounts of radiation found in space. Scientists are still trying to find out what happened to the atmosphere on Mars, but the two leading hypotheses are that the magnetic field of Mars is too weak or non-existent to hold on to an atmosphere, and/or the gravity of Mars is too weak to maintain an atmosphere. Since Mars is about half the size of Earth, the gravity is about half as strong as it is on Earth.
Mars has two moons, Diemos and Phobos. Neither moon is as round or as large as Earths own. Wouldn't it be awesome to look up in the night sky and see two moons orbiting overhead?
Mars has been the most visited planet in our solar system. There have been many robotic missions sent to Mars to study the atmosphere, chemical composition of the planet, and the search for water. Most of the tests have been done to see if life has or will ever be able to exist there. NASA and many other space exploration companies are trying to figure out a way to get humans to Mars. If we were to send a human today, they would most likely die from receiving too much radiation. So continue to research how to protect the humans long enough to get them to Mars. But once they arrived, they would still have to be protected from the continuing onslaught of radiation and need food, water, and oxygen to survive. The atmosphere of Mars is not substantial enough to protect the visitors from radiation, or even the cold temperatures.
I hope that the scientists and engineers of today can come up with a solution to getting humans to Mars in the near future. It currently takes about 9 months to get from Earth to Mars. So far, our technology can keep a human safe outside of Earths atmosphere for about 6 months. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are currently trying to find a way to protect humans for a longer duration, among other tests and research.
Mars is about half the size of the Earth but has many interesting features. Mars is home to the largest known volcano in the solar system: Olympus Mons. It is about 3 times higher than Mount Everest and has a diameter of over 340 miles. Mars is also the home to a giant "Grand Canyon". Valles Marineris (Mariner Valley) stretches just under a quarter of the distance around Mars. Valles Marineris is so big that the Grand Canyon would be just a small side canyon branching off from the main body.
Be sure to pack your thermals, a space blanket, and a space heater for the winter temperatures on Mars! It will get down to -125° C (-195° F) during the winter and near the north and south poles. You might also want to pack a light jacket and maybe even a pair of shorts and flip flops if you plan on staying near the equator during the summer months. It gets up to a comfortable 20° C (70° F) during this time.
A Martian day is only slightly longer than an Earth day, lasting only an extra 40 minutes. Since Mars is quite a bit farther away from the Sun than the Earth, the Martian year is almost as long as 2 Earth years! Since the Martian day is slightly longer than an Earth day, if you were living on Mars, a year would be about 669 days.
The atmosphere on Mars is very thin and mostly consists of carbon dioxide. The atmosphere would not protect humans from the dangerous amounts of radiation found in space. Scientists are still trying to find out what happened to the atmosphere on Mars, but the two leading hypotheses are that the magnetic field of Mars is too weak or non-existent to hold on to an atmosphere, and/or the gravity of Mars is too weak to maintain an atmosphere. Since Mars is about half the size of Earth, the gravity is about half as strong as it is on Earth.
Mars has two moons, Diemos and Phobos. Neither moon is as round or as large as Earths own. Wouldn't it be awesome to look up in the night sky and see two moons orbiting overhead?
Mars has been the most visited planet in our solar system. There have been many robotic missions sent to Mars to study the atmosphere, chemical composition of the planet, and the search for water. Most of the tests have been done to see if life has or will ever be able to exist there. NASA and many other space exploration companies are trying to figure out a way to get humans to Mars. If we were to send a human today, they would most likely die from receiving too much radiation. So continue to research how to protect the humans long enough to get them to Mars. But once they arrived, they would still have to be protected from the continuing onslaught of radiation and need food, water, and oxygen to survive. The atmosphere of Mars is not substantial enough to protect the visitors from radiation, or even the cold temperatures.
I hope that the scientists and engineers of today can come up with a solution to getting humans to Mars in the near future. It currently takes about 9 months to get from Earth to Mars. So far, our technology can keep a human safe outside of Earths atmosphere for about 6 months. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are currently trying to find a way to protect humans for a longer duration, among other tests and research.
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