Anyone, even the most casual observer, looking at the evening sky in the last month will have noticed the brilliant white planet Venus shining in the west. Often known as the Evening Star, Venus is the third brightest natural object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. In this post I’ll talk about… Continue reading The Brightness of Venus
Tag: Jupiter
Jupiter at opposition 9 May 2018
On May 9 Jupiter is at opposition. This event, which occurs every 399 days, happens when Jupiter is at its closest to the Earth and at its brightest. To the naked eye it is a brilliant white object, three times brighter than the brightest star. Features such as coloured bands and the famous great red… Continue reading Jupiter at opposition 9 May 2018
Johannes Kepler
My latest post is about the work of the German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). He is most famous for his improvement to the earlier model of Copernicus by introducing the idea that the planets move in elliptical, rather than circular, orbits and that their movements in these orbits are governed by a set of laws,… Continue reading Johannes Kepler
Mission Juno
On 4 July 2016 the NASA spacecraft Juno will arrive at Jupiter after a 5 year journey. It will be the ninth space probe to visit the planet. The first was Pioneer 10, which flew past in December 1973, (see notes). Juno will go into an orbit around the planet which will take it close to its poles.… Continue reading Mission Juno
Explaining Science 