I came across a video I thought you'd all enjoy. It's a delightful demonstration of how gravity varies from planet to planet. Gravity depends upon mass. The more mass, the more pull. This affects how much you weigh as well as how high you can jump on a given planet, moon or asteroid.
Earth is 81 times as massive as the moon. In other words, you'd need to crush 81 moons together to equal the mass of our planet. Being much less massive, its attractive power is far less. On the moon you can jump 9 feet (2.7 meters) in the air from a standing position compared to just 1.5 feet (0.5 m) on Earth. Near Jupiter, the most massive planet, you'd only achieve 6 inches, while on Martian moon Phobos, a jump would launch you straight out into space.
Hubble Watches How a Giant Planet Grows – Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is giving astronomers a rare look at a Jupiter-sized, still-forming planet that is feeding off material surrounding a young star.
“We just don’t know very much about how giant planets grow,” said Brendan Bowler of the University of Texas at Austin. “This planetary system gives us the first opportunity to witness material falling onto a planet. Our results open up a new area for this research.”
May Skywatching Tips: A Rocky Planet Round-Up and a Super Blood Moon Eclipse
Beginning mid-May, if you can find a clear view toward the western horizon, you’ll have an opportunity to see all four of the rocky, inner planets of our solar system at the same time, with your own eyes.
See all four inner planets (including Earth!) after sunset, beginning mid-May. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
To see near the horizon, you need an unobstructed view – free of nearby trees and buildings. Some of the best places for this are the shores of lakes or the beach, open plains, or high up on a mountain or tall building.
Not just for finding planets: Exoplanet-hunter TESS telescope spots bright gamma-ray burst --
Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest explosions in the universe, typically associated with the collapse of a massive star and the birth of a black hole. They can produce as much radioactive energy as the sun will release during its entire 10-billion-year existence.
Krista Lynne Smith, an assistant professor of physics at Southern Methodist University, and her team confirmed the blast -- called GRB 191016A -- happened on Oct. 16 and also determined its location and duration. A study on the discovery has been published in The Astrophysical Journal .
Star Trak: Mercury, other planets easier to view in May night skies | Outdoors | hoosiertimes.com
Mercury and Venus will be visible above the western horizon soon after sunset this month in the constellation Taurus the Bull. This will be Mercury's best evening display of the year. Today the small planet will be less than 3 degrees below the Pleiades star cluster, a fine sight in 7x50 binoculars. Mercury will reach its greatest separation from the sun on May 17, when it will be 22 degrees from the solar disk
Venus will be 5 degrees below Mercury as the month begins, tricky to spot in twilight though it is much brighter. See if you can find Venus 30 minutes after sunset, when it will be 2 degrees high. It will set quickly, so you'll need a clear western horizon to see it.
Planets return to visibility, total lunar eclipse in May - Coast Reporter
The recent drought for planetary observing ends in May now that the planets are far enough away from the Sun to be safely visible. Our Moon, however, will still figure prominently in this month’s action.
By May 1, Mercury and Venus will begin to be visible in the WNW just after sunset – around 2100. Binoculars will help pick them out. A waning crescent moon will pass right to left about 5 degrees below Saturn and Jupiter, respectively, about 0500 the mornings from May 3 to 5 in the SE before sunrise.
Exoplanet is Gobbling Up Gas and Dust as it Continues to Build Mass - UT News
AUSTIN, Texas — The Hubble Space Telescope has allowed astronomers from The University of Texas at Austin to get a rare look at a young, Jupiter-sized planet that is growing by feeding off material surrounding a young star 370 light-years from Earth.
"We just don't know very much about how giant planets grow," said Brendan Bowler, an assistant professor of astronomy at UT Austin. "This planetary system gives us the first opportunity to witness material falling onto a planet. Our results open up a new area for this research."
May 2021 Astronomical Events: Your Guide to the Moon and Planets This Month | Science Times
Summer is here, which means it's time to go stargazing. And if the nights are getting shorter as we approach the summer solstice, the last month of spring in the northern hemisphere this year hosts two of the year's most significant astronomical activities.
On May 26, 2021, the year's largest "supermoon" will undoubtedly be one of them, a sight that will be merely the largest-looking and brightest full Moon of the year for half of the planet.
Add on an unbelievably brilliant Venus in the post-sunset sky, a rare glimpse of Mercury in the "Seven Sisters" star cluster, and a near celestial conjunction between both of the inner planets, and May is set to dazzle.
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