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gliblous phase of Mars.

Discussion in 'Observing Celestial Objects' started by kevan hubbard, Aug 21, 2018.

gliblous phase of Mars.

Started by kevan hubbard on Aug 21, 2018 at 8:45 AM

17 Replies 1615 Views 1 Likes

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  1. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    My astronomy magazine tells me Mars is 90 percent illuminated now and I think that I was successful at spotting it last night,it looked like the left(east)rim was missing. Interesting Mars, as a superior planet,can show phases. I can understand how it works with mercury and Venus but not Mars and Jupiter (Saturn, Uranus and Neptune don't seem to show phases?).must be due to the angle they're at and the sunlight striking the words in question?
     
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  2. Pleiades

    Pleiades Well-Known Member

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    That is very interesting. It is also very cloudy here, but that would be really cool to see.
     
  3. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    It's only fairly recently I discovered that Mars and Jupiter showed,and not often, phases.obviously everyone knows about mercury and Venus. It must happen with Mars and Jupiter when they're at a certain angle causing not all the sunlight to be reflected back? Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are too remote for this to happen.
     
  4. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    I always thought Mars phases quite rapidly after opposition.

    MERIDIANI PLANUM.jpg

    You can see it here with a screenshot from the Virtual Planet Atlas.
     
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  5. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    Yes that's sort of what it looked like! Wouldn't it be nice seeing earth's phases from Mars and Mars's from Jupiter?
     
  6. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, it would, but you'd need this:

    87446a40-5c13-4e88-88a3-ab32bfc87c43.png
     
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  7. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    You can do it without a flying saucer various probes have taken pictures of earth from Mars but they don't seem to offer much magnification for looking at earths phases. I'm guessing earth is similar to Venus, seen from earth,when seen from Mars? Earth is probably less reflective than Venus as it's atmosphere isn't as thick?I'm going to guess that earth seen from Venus, above the atmosphere!, is brighter than Mars is from earth due to its size?surviving the sulphuric acid in the atmosphere could prove a burning challenge!
     
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  8. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Well, technically, the Jupiter II wasn't a flying saucer.
     
  9. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    A UFO then!
     
  10. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, but the 'U' in UFO stands for 'unidentified', and I can identify the Jupiter II.
     
  11. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    Ifo then?except is an object in space flying? Do you need air to fly in?
     
  12. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Not sure, there's no 'up' in space. Dr Smith might know.
     
  13. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    Or Robbie the robot! I'd say in air you fly in space you move.
     
  14. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Robbie the Robot?

     
  15. Dave In Vermont

    Dave In Vermont Well-Known Member

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    Dr. Smith went onto a career as a Priest. I rather doubt he knows up from down at this point...
     
  16. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    Or that fellow from empire strikes back with the radios on his ears?Robbie the lobot!perhaps Robbie the robot was in forbidden planet? If memory serves where the mind form attacks the space ship.haven't seen it for years.
     
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  17. Pleiades

    Pleiades Well-Known Member

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    In actually really glad you posted this. I was thinking my collimation was out of whack again. But I saw the same view from my refractor.
     
  18. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    It was easy to see even at 10x as I first spotted it through my 10x42 monocular during a hike.I don't think Mars drops below 10 percent phased out?
     

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