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Questions tagged [solar-system]

Questions regarding the Sun and objects orbiting it.

-4 votes
0 answers
50 views

The search for Planet X [closed]

Could Planet X actually be just the dark matter of our solar system creating a central point that causes the planets orbits to change slightly. Just a weird taught I had, I didn't expect an answer ...
Data at Q Continuum DejaVu's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
29 views

Do jets from gamma ray bursters and quasars cause gas clouds to collapse just as supernovae are postulated to do?

A supernova may have caused a gas cloud to collapse and form our solar system .But can jets from quasars and gamma ray bursters also cause gas clouds to collapse ?
user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
211 views

What happens to planets as they cross the Galactic equator?

We know from research that the Solar System travels around the Galactic plane, and sometimes (periodically) dips below the Galactic equator, only to return and dip back above the Galactic equator ...
Jim's user avatar
  • 45
2 votes
1 answer
76 views

Carbon dioxide on terrestrial planets

I guess it's a basic question, but why do Venus and Mars have so much carbon dioxide in their atmospheres? The vast majority of the universe is hydrogen (and a small percentage is helium). Why did the ...
Goose's user avatar
  • 31
3 votes
0 answers
48 views

Grand Tack Hypothesis and Nice model

The two models describe the evolution of the solar system at different timescales, but both result in the current location of Jupiter. Are they compatible with eachother? Could the Grand Tack be the ...
jack_O'Dim's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
3k views

How close will Pluto come to Earth this year (2024)?

For reasons associated with a 1943 story, I am keen to find how close Earth will come to Pluto in 2024. According to https://theskylive.com/pluto-tracker today (21-May-2024), Pluto is now slowly ...
Laska's user avatar
  • 187
3 votes
1 answer
99 views

Easy guideline for using JPL Horizons DE431 for planets in aphelion and perihelion from 11000 BC to 16000 AD?

Can someone give me a step by step Guide how to use JPL DE431 or DE441 as a Beginner. I tried the Horizons website app and Webgeocalc but it didn't showed understandable Information. This websites ...
Patrick Wackenhut's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
47 views

What is the difference between a solar eclipse's (a) magnitude and the (b) moon/sun size ratio?

After watching a Smarter Every Day 2 YouTube video featuring Gordon Telepun, I purchased his ebook Eclipse Day 2024 and More off the Google Play store. In the book, he has a link to Xavier Jubier’s ...
Curious Layman's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
46 views

Gear trains of astronomical clocks available?

I have been modelling gear trains of astronomical clocks (e.g., Antikythera, Eise Eisinga Planetarium, Prague Orloj, Ancient Maya Solar System). I am now looking for gear trains of other famous ...
aviola's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
1 answer
84 views

What causes the short term variation in the length of a march-equinox year

By a "march-equinox year" I mean the time between successive march/vernal equinoxes. I understand that this is different from the mean tropical year, and I also understand why this would be ...
anonymous's user avatar
  • 121
4 votes
0 answers
65 views

What are the technologies needed to make deep space LIDAR competitive with RADAR? Any plans for tests, prototypes or "pathfinder" systems?

ProfRob's answer to Would it be practical to map out the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud via Radar? gives us a "sobriety check" on the idea. Citing an example of a 1 million watt transmitter at ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 30.7k
1 vote
1 answer
47 views

Range for Radius and Mass of Solar bodies

I'm trying to build a table with the Min and Max Radius and Mass of Solar bodies. In order to get data to be able to random generate other solar systems. This is a basic exercise, I'm pulling data ...
Tiago Matos's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
72 views

How can I calculate the geocentric longitude of Pluto in a similar way to VSOP87's algorithm?

The book "Astronomical Algorithms" teaches a way to calculate the position of any of the planets for almost any date, until you get to Pluto. To try to get around that, I attempted to ...
Matheus Azevedo's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
186 views

Would it be practical to map out the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud via Radar?

I recall reading an article where the moon, could be detected via radar and that orbiting radar satellites could map out the surface of mars, and in some cases even parts of Venus (the lattermost ...
Sidharth Ghoshal's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
61 views

How to find the Moon's node longitude crossing

Yes, I asked this in the past but I got sidetracked and did other things. Now my question is, can one find the exact time when "north node" reaches a certain longitude? I am looking for 15....
dimitri33's user avatar
  • 167
0 votes
2 answers
93 views

the difference between the heliocentric and the geocentric

Is the difference between heliocentric and geocentric velocities a matter of the coordinate system? Or are these kinds of velocities different? For example, the speed of a comet at perihelion is 71km/...
Robert's user avatar
  • 177
1 vote
0 answers
42 views

Meteor Triangulation

I´m looking for literature and examples on the subject of meteor triangulation. For example, graphical representation and calculation of a meteor orbit observed from two different geographical ...
Robert's user avatar
  • 177
0 votes
0 answers
34 views

For the SST/CHROMIS H-β spectral line at 4846 Angstrom (Å), what is the difference in solar altitude observed at wavelengths differing by ±0.1 Å?

For the SST/CHROMIS H-β spectral line at 4846 Angstrom (Å), what is the difference in solar altitude observed at wavelengths differing by ±0.1 Å?
Isomorphism's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
2k views

Multiply Earth's orbital speed with square root of 2

Earth's escape velocity is 11.18 km/s. If I multiply Earth's orbital speed with the square root of 2, 29.7827 km/s x 1.41 = 42.11 km/s How is this speed called? I found this equation in an old German ...
Robert's user avatar
  • 177
9 votes
3 answers
3k views

Unreasonable ratios in astronomy as ways of remembering

In mathematics there are approximations to pi such as: $\pi\approx\dfrac{355}{113}$ that have extraordinary accuracy and are useful ways of remembering or being able to calculate a value close to pi ...
David's user avatar
  • 337
25 votes
4 answers
6k views

Is it coincidence that the earth's rotation and revolution are in the same direction?

In a reference system where the sun is static, the rotation and revolution of the earth are, when viewed from above the north pole, both counterclockwise. Is it a coincidence that they agree? Or does ...
Marc Vaisband's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
255 views

Voyager spacecraft distance from Earth

According with NASA JPL the earth catches up with the spacecraft because Earth is moving a lot faster than the spacecraft. Can one calculate the times when the spacecraft gets closest to Earth
dimitri33's user avatar
  • 167
8 votes
3 answers
3k views

Would be possible to detect Planet Nine as a microlensing event along the line of its projected orbit?

Theoretically proposed by Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown (@Caltech), Planet Nine could have a mass of $\sim 6.3 \pm 2 M_{\oplus}$. Even though I don't know if the hypothesis is still feasible at ...
nuwe's user avatar
  • 771
2 votes
1 answer
96 views

Why do these two sources list different values for the Solar axial tilt to the ecliptic and Earth's orbital inclination to the Solar equator?

On the Wikipedia article for axial tilt the Solar axial tilt is listed as 7.25° to the ecliptic, whereas on the Wikipedia article of orbital inclination Earth is listed as having an orbital ...
Outis Nemo's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
163 views

On what four dates dates do we observe the minimal, maximal, and two days of zero Solar axial tilt relative to us?

In case the title is a bit confusing, what I'd like to know is essentially respectively on which dates the Solar axial tilt is pointing straight towards Earth, straight away from Earth, and ...
Outis Nemo's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
127 views

The rocky planet sizes between the Sun and Jupiter are small, big, bigger, small, and unfinished. Is there a reason?

The rocky planet sizes between the Sun and Jupiter are small (Mercury), big (Venus), bigger (Earth), small (Mars), and unfinished (the asteroid belt). Is this just random chance or is there a theory ...
phil1008's user avatar
  • 119
1 vote
0 answers
58 views

Tracking the position of the sun at various times of the day and night for a particular location

I am looking for a website that will provide me with the degree above and below the horizon of the position of the sun at various times of the day and night for a particular location. looking for ...
sunwatcher's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
114 views

Implementing polar coordinates correctly in solar system model?

I am working on a 2d solar system model using Python, but I'm unsure if my implementation of planet data is correct. I have the planet data stored in polar form (distance, velocity and angle), and I ...
Tmpecho's user avatar
  • 45
2 votes
1 answer
81 views

How to flatten 3d astronomical coordinates into 2d polar form in Python

I first asked this at Stack Overflow but got redirected here I am making a 2d simulation of the solar system. For that you need a starting point for all planets. Right now I am storing that data in ...
Tmpecho's user avatar
  • 45
5 votes
3 answers
205 views

Why are there gaps in the size distribution of solar system moons?

Looking at the moons natural satellites in the solar system, the larger ones appear to fall in a few groups of sizes. Eyeballing the above picture, there appear to be a bunch of big moons (the ...
JanKanis's user avatar
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