One astronomical term which is rarely used anymore is "combust," which refers to a celestial body that appears to be in such close proximity to the sun that it is impossible to observe.
The moon is a very good example of this from roughly 18 to 24 hours before to roughly 18 to 24 hours after new moon phase . Of course, when the moon is new, we are facing that part of the moon that is not illuminated by reflected sunlight. But even when a narrow sliver of the moon's disk is illuminated, shortly before or after new, it may still be difficult, if not impossible, to see.
And here's another article:
Planetary Analogs | Planets – NASA Solar System Exploration
Similar environments on different worlds are called planetary analogs. Comparing planetary analogs is a powerful way to make sense of our solar system.
* * *
Rocks record history. They tell the stories of past volcanic eruptions, giant earthquakes, erosion processes, and meteoric impacts – if we know how to look. To make sense of what we see, we study geology from many different perspectives.
Remote sensing shows us the big picture. Large features like canyons and continents are easy to see from far away. Spacecraft, aircraft, drones, and telescopes are all useful remote sensing tools.
Mars ahead! China's Tianwen-1 mission snaps 1st photo of Red Planet. | Space
China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft snapped its first image of Mars as the mission makes its final approach; the probe will enter orbit around the Red Planet in less than a week.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) released the image today (Feb. 5), demonstrating that the powerful, high-resolution camera on the Tianwen-1 spacecraft is working properly.
The greyscale image was captured at a distance of 1.36 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) from Mars, according to CNSA.
What's Out There?
Since a giant planet in a scorching orbit captured public attention in 1995, a sky full of strange and exotic exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – has only grown richer in variety and detail.
Hot Jupiters, mini-Neptunes, “ super-Earths ,” planets with two or three suns in their skies, rocky planets drowned in global oceans of lava, planets where it might rain glass – these make up just a short list of oddities among more than 4,300 confirmed so far in our Milky Way galaxy.
In case you are keeping track:
Two exoplanet families redefine what planetary systems can look like | Science News
Two tightly packed families of exoplanets are pushing the boundaries of what a planetary system can look like. New studies of the makeup of worlds orbiting two different stars show a wide range of planetary possibilities, all of them different from our solar system.
"When we study multiplanet systems, there's simply more information kept in these systems" than any single planet by itself, says geophysicist Caroline Dorn of the University of Zurich. Studying the planets together "tells us about the diversity within a system that we can't get from looking at individual planets."
Three Little Outliers in a Sea of Planets, Stars, and Brown Dwarfs | astrobites
Title: The Runts of the Litter: Why Planets Formed Through Gravitational Instability Can Only be Failed Binary Stars
* * *
First Author's Institution: Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Up until 2010, this model had really only been explored and tested up to ~10 Astronomical Units (AU) away from the central star. At larger distances, there was a bit of a wild west with respect to how planets form, especially in a well-studied planetary system known as HR 8799. HR 8799 consists of four objects each ~10x the mass of Jupiter orbiting a central star at distances between 30 and 70 AU. (HR 8799 is also discussed in these three other astrobites .
A Look Under the Hood: Planet's Mission Ops Team
As we all know, 2020 was a disruptive, chaotic, and tumultuous year. Professionally though, it was a year that tested and demonstrated the capabilities and resiliency of Planet's operations teams.
But the team prevailed. In admiration of all of their hard work, we're pulling back the curtain on our best-in-class Missions Ops team and sharing some highlights from the last year. Enjoy!
* * *
Before we can achieve any of these operations, we first have to get the satellites to orbit. The last 12 months tested the resiliency of our launch capabilities and planning. The year brought launch failures and delays that forced the team to improve our metrics and terminology, productivity, and efficiency of our systems to ensure customer expectations were managed and maintained until we could launch again.
First footfall allows players to claim discovered planets in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey | Shacknews
Throughout Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's galaxy, the first player to put their foot down on the surface of a planet will have their name etched in that planet's history.
Frontier Developments went into the details of first footfall in a Q&A forum post on February 5, 2021. According to Frontier Community Manager Stephen Benedetti, first footfall happens a player is the absolute first out of any to reach a planet and take the first steps on its surface.
Humorously, Frontier Developments also addressed the matter of co-op play. A planet’s first footfall cannot be claimed by two players. That means you and your buds are going to have to decide who gets to be immortalized on that particular world.
Happening on Twitter
Diversity is a fact, inclusion is a choice. #COVID19 has captured our fragility and our interdependence. If we hope… https://t.co/tMb8yMRxdu BobRae48 Thu Feb 04 14:53:35 +0000 2021
February 4 marks one year until Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games begins. With vaccines, plus China's strong epidem… https://t.co/38U1ZVOoYM HuXijin_GT (from China) Thu Feb 04 12:19:25 +0000 2021
This year South Africa marks the 24th anniversary of the Constitution coming into effect on 04 February 1997, repla… https://t.co/R8f0rGOCRd RonaldLamola (from South Africa) Thu Feb 04 17:33:06 +0000 2021
February marks a month of 'combustible' planets and tricky skywatching https://t.co/GBT5cZ4A4b https://t.co/b0T9MOiuet SPACEdotcom (from NYC) Fri Feb 05 21:49:34 +0000 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment