Tonight … another chance to see the moon and giant planet Jupiter close together on the sky’s dome. Look eastward before going to bed tonight – December 11, 2014 – to spot the moon and the planet rather low in the sky. These bright luminaries will climb upward during the nighttime hours, to reach their high point for the night around 4 to 5 a.m. local time – that’s your clock time, for most parts of the globe – on Friday morning, December 12.
Do you have a telescope? If you aim even a modest low-powered telescope at Jupiter, you can instantly view Jupiter’s four major moons. In their outward order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. As seen through the telescope, though, these moons can appear in any order, depending on when you look at them.
Remember, also, that these moons only look like pinpricks of light in a backyard telescope. Click here for a Jupiter’s moons chart, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.
No telescope? Try your binoculars. You should be able to pick up a moon or two with them as well.
Woot! Woot! EarthSky lunar calendars 25% off through December 15
If you’re in North America, here’s how Jupiter’s moons will appear in the telescope before dawn Friday, December 12
Jupiter boasts of having the largest (Ganymede), third-largest (Callisto), fourth-largest (Io) and sixth-largest moons (Europa) in the solar system. Saturn’s moon Titan ranks as the second-largest and our moon the fifth.
Each one of Jupiter’s four major moons is vastly different yet superbly unique:
Moon superlatives
Io exhibits the greatest volcanic activity of any world in our solar system, resulting from tremendous tidal forces that cause its surface to continually rupture.
Europa may have the largest ocean of any solar system world, with a possible depth of 100 kilometers (60 miles). An inhabitable zone for life may well exist.
Ganymede, the largest solar system moon, is the only moon in the solar system to have its own magnetic field, generated by a sphere of metallic iron at its core.
Callisto is as geologically inactive as Io is active. With its surface virtually unchanged over the last 4 billion years, Callisto has the oldest landscape in the solar system.
Check out Jupiter and Earth’s moons, and, if you can, Jupiter’s four largest moons tonight!
Jupiter’s four major moons: Europa (upper left), Io (upper right), Callisto (lower left, and Ganymede (lower right). Image credit: NASA
Bottom line: The waning gibbous moon and the giant planet Jupiter rise at mid-to-late evening on December 11, and then stay out for the rest of the night.
Donate: Your support means the world to us
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1upH4aH
Tonight … another chance to see the moon and giant planet Jupiter close together on the sky’s dome. Look eastward before going to bed tonight – December 11, 2014 – to spot the moon and the planet rather low in the sky. These bright luminaries will climb upward during the nighttime hours, to reach their high point for the night around 4 to 5 a.m. local time – that’s your clock time, for most parts of the globe – on Friday morning, December 12.
Do you have a telescope? If you aim even a modest low-powered telescope at Jupiter, you can instantly view Jupiter’s four major moons. In their outward order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. As seen through the telescope, though, these moons can appear in any order, depending on when you look at them.
Remember, also, that these moons only look like pinpricks of light in a backyard telescope. Click here for a Jupiter’s moons chart, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.
No telescope? Try your binoculars. You should be able to pick up a moon or two with them as well.
Woot! Woot! EarthSky lunar calendars 25% off through December 15
If you’re in North America, here’s how Jupiter’s moons will appear in the telescope before dawn Friday, December 12
Jupiter boasts of having the largest (Ganymede), third-largest (Callisto), fourth-largest (Io) and sixth-largest moons (Europa) in the solar system. Saturn’s moon Titan ranks as the second-largest and our moon the fifth.
Each one of Jupiter’s four major moons is vastly different yet superbly unique:
Moon superlatives
Io exhibits the greatest volcanic activity of any world in our solar system, resulting from tremendous tidal forces that cause its surface to continually rupture.
Europa may have the largest ocean of any solar system world, with a possible depth of 100 kilometers (60 miles). An inhabitable zone for life may well exist.
Ganymede, the largest solar system moon, is the only moon in the solar system to have its own magnetic field, generated by a sphere of metallic iron at its core.
Callisto is as geologically inactive as Io is active. With its surface virtually unchanged over the last 4 billion years, Callisto has the oldest landscape in the solar system.
Check out Jupiter and Earth’s moons, and, if you can, Jupiter’s four largest moons tonight!
Jupiter’s four major moons: Europa (upper left), Io (upper right), Callisto (lower left, and Ganymede (lower right). Image credit: NASA
Bottom line: The waning gibbous moon and the giant planet Jupiter rise at mid-to-late evening on December 11, and then stay out for the rest of the night.
Donate: Your support means the world to us
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1upH4aH
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire