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Which is an inferior planet?

Which is an inferior planet?

In the reference frame of the Earth, in which the terms were originally used, the inferior planets are Mercury and Venus, while the superior planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

What is elongation of a planet?

elongation, in astronomy, the angular distance in celestial longitude separating the Moon or a planet from the Sun. The greatest elongation possible for the two inferior planets (those closer than the Earth to the Sun) is about 48° in the case of Venus and about 28° in that of Mercury.

Which planet is near quadrature?

Astronomers say that Jupiter is at eastern quadrature at this juncture. That is, it’s 90o east of the sun. Geometric markers such as these, for planets and moons in our solar system, are more than just academic.

What is the greatest elongation?

Definition of greatest elongation : the configuration in which one celestial body reaches its greatest apparent distance from another the greatest eastern elongation of Venus with respect to the sun.

Which planet Cannot be seen without a telescope?

Not including our own planet, most people will answer “five” (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). Those are the five brightest planets, but in reality, there is a sixth planet that can be glimpsed without the aid of either a telescope or binoculars. That sixth planet is the planet Uranus.

What is a naked eye planet?

Five planets can be recognized as planets from Earth with the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Under typical dark sky conditions Uranus (magnitude +5.8) can be seen as well with averted vision, as can the asteroid Vesta at its brighter oppositions.

How do you find the maximum elongation of a planet?

The magnitude at maximum elongation is calculated by determining the relative positions of the Earth and Mercury with respect to the Sun, calculating the phase angle (percent illumination) of Mercury and the intensity of light it receives from the Sun at the point along its substantially elliptical orbit it occupies at …

How do you determine elongation?

Elongation is calculated by dividing the distance travelled by the original gauge length.

What is planetary opposition?

And which planets have oppositions? In astronomy, opposition means a planet is opposite the sun. So, for example, the planets with orbits inside Earth’s orbit (Mercury and Venus) can’t be at opposition. But the planets orbiting outside Earth’s orbit – Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune – all can.

What is western quadrature?

A superior planet (outside the Earth’s orbit) is at west quadrature when its position is 90° west of the Sun. It rises around midnight, reaches the meridian (a great circle on the celestial sphere, passing through the north and south poles and the zenith) near sunrise and sets near noon.

What is Venus elongation?

Greatest elongation happens when Venus is farthest from the sun on the sky’s dome. At the October 2023 greatest elongation, Venus will appear higher in the sky from the Northern Hemisphere than from the Southern Hemisphere due to the steep angle of the ecliptic (path of the sun, moon and planets) on autumn mornings.

Where is the planet during greatest eastern elongation?

When Mercury or Venus (the inferior planets) reach their greatest eastern elongation, they are visible as evening objects that set after the Sun. At greatest western elongation, they are visible as morning objects that rise before the Sun.

What type of planet is Jupiter?

It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants; the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity.

What is the mass of Jupiter?

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity.

What is the exact position of Jupiter?

Jupiter is one of the five visible planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn), being the fifth most distant from the Sun at an average distance of 5.2 AU, its closest approach is at 4.9 AU and at its farthest 5.4 AU. Its exact position can be checked online since the planet is constantly tracked.

What is the equatorial diameter of Jupiter?

The planet is an oblate spheroid, meaning that the diameter across its equator is longer than the diameter measured between its poles. On Jupiter, the equatorial diameter is 9,275 km (5,763 mi) longer than the polar diameter.