Post by patrickm on Dec 30, 2010 1:01:14 GMT -6
Uranus to align with Jupiter this week
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).
Read the rest here.
Space.com via MSNBC
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).
Read the rest here.
Space.com via MSNBC
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