Fiery rose and peach sunset skies are a unique perk of our home on Earth. But what colors appear when the sun sets on other planets in the solar system?
The answer depends on the planet. On Mars, the sun comes and goes with a blue glow. On Uranus, the sunset sky transitions from blue to turquoise, according to NASA. And on Titan, one of Saturn's moons, the sky turns from yellow to orange to brown as the sun dips beneath the horizon.
Sunset colors aren't uniform because, in large part, these hues are a product of each planet's atmosphere and how the particles in it scatter sunlight, according to Kurt Ehler, a professor of mathematics at Truckee Community College in Reno, Nevada, and lead author of a 2014 paper in the journal Applied Optics that investigated why the Martian sunset appears blue.
While you're here, how about this:
'Buck Moon' Wanes As Bright Planets Peak: What You Can See In The Night Sky This Week
Each Monday I pick out the northern hemisphere's celestial highlights (mid-northern latitudes) for the week ahead, but be sure to check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy and eclipses.
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After the weekend's full "Buck Moon" and, for some locations, the subtle sight of a penumbral lunar eclipse, comes a week that's perfect for both summer stargazing and planet-spotting.
With the Moon rising later each night, the brief hours of darkness are quickly cleared for finding constellations while the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn are almost at their brightest of the year, and ready to observe soon after sunset.
Is Planet 9 Actually A Primordial Black Hole?
Artist's conception of accretion flares resulting from the encounter of an Oort-cloud comet and a ... [+] hypothesized black hole in the outer solar system
Conventional theory has it that Planet 9 —- our outer solar system's hypothetical 9 th planet —- is merely a heretofore undetected planet, likely captured by our solar system at some point over its 4.6 billion year history.
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In a paper accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the co-authors argue that observed clustering of extreme trans-Neptunian objects suggest some sort of massive super-earth type body lying on the outer fringes of our solar system. Perhaps as much as 800 astronomical units (Earth-Sun distances) out.
"In the Sky" discusses planets, stars & comets during the month of July 2020 |
CLEVELAND — WATCH | Learn more in this edition of "In the Sky" with Jay Reynolds (@reynoldsastro) and Gale Franko from the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (@cuyastro) #3weather
While you're here, how about this:
The race to find Planet X heats up - Axios
Teams of scientists are vying to be the first to spot a large, hypothetical planet that might be lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system.
Why it matters: Astronomers have found thousands of planets orbiting other stars, but the hunt for this possible planet orbiting our own Sun — called Planet X or Planet 9 by some — is showing just how little we know about our solar system.
What's happening: Teams of scientists are racing to find the possible planet using telescopes trained on distant parts of the solar system before a more powerful telescope comes online in the coming years.
NASA Teases New 'VERITAS' Mission To Explore Earth's Super-Hot Sister Planet
An artist's concept of active volcanos on Venus, depicting a subduction zone where the foreground ... [+] crust plunges into the planet's interior at the topographic trench.
Now under consideration to become NASA's next Discovery Program mission, the spacecraft would try to reveal the inner workings of the "hot planet."
The mission—called Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography & Spectroscopy (VERITAS)—is being mooted for launch in 2026, after which it would orbit the planet and peer through the obscuring clouds with a powerful radar system.
Jupiter to dominate Monday night sky as planet orbits closest to Earth - ABC7 New York
When Earth is between the sun and an outer planet, the outer planet is said to be at opposition because -- from Earth's point of view it is opposite the sun, AccuWeather explains.
Citizen Scientists Help Discover Bizarre Brown Dwarfs | NASA
Happening on Twitter
What color is the sunset on other planets? https://t.co/GtB4ILKxcB https://t.co/I9uQaUdRVL SPACEdotcom (from NYC) Fri Jul 10 00:11:33 +0000 2020
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