article : Look! Up in the sky! It's a planetary alignment!
Look! Up in the sky! It's a planetary alignment!
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If you've been paying attention to the western sky just after dusk in recent weeks, you've been treated to a really great show as the moon, Venus and Jupiter have been engaged in a nightly waltz with one another. Over the course of the next few weeks, Jupiter and Venus will continue to align so keep an eye out for it. If you have an unobstructed view of the western horizon next week, you'll get a glimpse of Mercury too.
This video from NASA explains what's going on in the not-uncommon alignment and what to expect in the weeks ahead.
What they are however, are wondrous other worlds that share our solar system with us. Seeing them is a thrill just because they're there. Excuse me while I geek out on some astronomy.
I can't help but wonder what it's really like on those other worlds when I see them. Here's Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
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| photo from NASA |
It's what's known as one of the gas giants in that it has a tiny rocky core surrounded by hydrogen and helium and a handful of other elements. Its size is mostly gas and that's kind of hard to imagine. Jupiter is massive and this spliced together photo shows it in relation to the size of the Earth. Jupiter has at least 64 moons and the largest of them, Ganymede, is larger than Mercury.
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photo from NASA |
Simply amazing.
Here's Venus.
Venus is the second planet from the sun and is 20 percent smaller than the Earth. Its size has earned it the reputation as the Earth's sister planet. The similarities end there though. Its surface is permanently obscured by dense clouds of sulfuric acid floating in an atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide. Penetrating radar has shown Venus to have a bone-dry, rocky surface punctuated by some very serious volcanoes.
Finally, here's Mercury.
Mercury is the planet closest to the sun in our solar system. It's also the smallest of the planets orbiting our sun. It has a molten iron core and a surface composed of silicates primarily. Its surface is pockmarked with craters and appears to lead a pretty tough existence. Its proximity to the sun gives it some amazing temperature variations. During the day, the surface temperature can reach 840 degrees F (450 degrees C) and at night the temperature drops to -275 degrees F (-170 degrees C). Talk about freeze thaw cycle.
These three planets have been observed by human beings since the dawn of our species and until the last few hundred years, no one knew what they were. Living in an age when understanding the planets is a Google search away is an amazing thing. Knowing that Jupiter's made of gas primarily and that Venus exists under a veil of sulfuric acid clouds and that Mercury experiences such wild temperature fluctuations every day fires my imagination more than any myth ever could.
So over the next few weeks, look west just after the sun sets and be treated to one of the greatest shows in the solar system.
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| Image processing by R. Nunes |
Venus is the second planet from the sun and is 20 percent smaller than the Earth. Its size has earned it the reputation as the Earth's sister planet. The similarities end there though. Its surface is permanently obscured by dense clouds of sulfuric acid floating in an atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide. Penetrating radar has shown Venus to have a bone-dry, rocky surface punctuated by some very serious volcanoes.
Finally, here's Mercury.
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| photo from NASA |
Mercury is the planet closest to the sun in our solar system. It's also the smallest of the planets orbiting our sun. It has a molten iron core and a surface composed of silicates primarily. Its surface is pockmarked with craters and appears to lead a pretty tough existence. Its proximity to the sun gives it some amazing temperature variations. During the day, the surface temperature can reach 840 degrees F (450 degrees C) and at night the temperature drops to -275 degrees F (-170 degrees C). Talk about freeze thaw cycle.
These three planets have been observed by human beings since the dawn of our species and until the last few hundred years, no one knew what they were. Living in an age when understanding the planets is a Google search away is an amazing thing. Knowing that Jupiter's made of gas primarily and that Venus exists under a veil of sulfuric acid clouds and that Mercury experiences such wild temperature fluctuations every day fires my imagination more than any myth ever could.
So over the next few weeks, look west just after the sun sets and be treated to one of the greatest shows in the solar system.
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