Celestial body that orbits following an elliptical path around a star or stellar remnant.
Questions tagged [planets]
924 questions
13
votes
2 answers
Falling into Saturn or Jupiter, would we pass through it until we hit the nucleus?
If we fall into Saturn or Jupiter, would we pass through it until we hit the nucleus?
Or would we hit the surface and stop there?
Garmen1778
- 1,533
9
votes
1 answer
How big (compared to our moon) would Saturn look from Titan's surface?
How large in the night sky would Saturn look from Titan's surface? I believe they are tidally locked.
Mike S
- 942
8
votes
2 answers
Why aren't there any clear planets/ stars?
Most gases are clear. So why are there not any planets or stars that are more or less clear in color?
I suspect this question may be extremely stupid.
math_lover
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7
votes
1 answer
Hemispheric dichotomy of Mars and unstable spin axis
Is the following explanation plausible? Can you spot any flaws?
Mars doesn't have a large moon to stabilise its axis of rotation. At some point early in its formation its axis might have been pointing at the Sun with one hemisphere continually…
vtt
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6
votes
4 answers
Are "broken" planets possible in the real world?
In the Star Wars universe, there are mentioned (or rather shown) two planets that had some kind of great explosion in their history. First is Peragus, with its exposed core, that partially exploded during one of early fuel mining operations on the…
Griwes
- 162
5
votes
3 answers
What does a planet look like in the infrared?
I've been trying to find a good source for what the planets look like in the infrared, specifically if viewed as a point source. I've been working with a low resolution telescope that senses in the infrared. What will a planet look like?
PearsonArtPhoto
- 3,749
4
votes
3 answers
How to concisely explain apparent retrograde motions of planets?
Some planetary orbits occasionally can appear to move backwards to an observer on the Earth?
Does anyone know concise, clear, web-based visualizations, animations or tutorials that clearly show how this might come about?
I have difficulties…
knb
3
votes
0 answers
What's the earliest a planet could have been formed?
From what I know the Earth is ~4 billion years old and the universe is ~14 billion years old.
Are there factors that prevented the Earth from forming for that first ~10 billion years?
Perhaps planets that formed closer to the center of the…
Aequitas
- 963
3
votes
1 answer
Mathematically calculate if a Planet is in apparent Retrograde motion
I am trying to find out if a planet is in an apparent retrograde motion with respect to the earth at any given point in time. Given the time in Julian days.
I already have the geocentric and heliocentric coordinates and velocities of the planet…
user133544
- 43
3
votes
0 answers
The collision of Phobos
Possible Duplicate:
the collision of Phobos
Mars has two moons: Phobos and Deimos. Both are irregular and are believed to have been captured from the nearby asteroid belt.
Phobos always shows the same face of Mars, because of the tidal forces…
jormansandoval
- 1,496
3
votes
2 answers
2012: Is there some astronomical event happening?
The news media has publicized that 2012 is the end of the Mayan calendar, and that all the planets will be aligned. Is there any truth to this?
Michael Blaustein
2
votes
3 answers
What is Venus's core made of?
As we all know Venus's surface is so hot that it can probably melt lead.
What would be in it's in core?
Is it in the liquid or solid state?
What would be it's temperature?
How many cores does it have?
Nani Hari
- 133
1
vote
1 answer
Crater equation
I found this crater equation
$$
D=0.07 \cdot C_f \cdot (g_e/g)^{1/6} \cdot (W p_a/p_t)^{1/3.4}
$$
on a website, where
$$
\begin{align}
D &= \text{Crater Diameter}\\
C_f &= \text{Crater Collapse Factor (this is equal to 1.3 for craters > 4km on…
Luqman Halim
- 99
0
votes
1 answer
Solid surface of the gas giants
Given the gravities of gas giants and other similar celestial obejcts, I find it hard to believe that their centers aren't crushed to solid states.
If the gas giants and other similar objects have a solid core.
Why isn't that considered a solid…
0
votes
1 answer
Motion of binary planetary system perceptible?
If one were standing on a body that is part of a binary system such as Pluto/Charon, would the g-forces of the motion of the planet be perceptible by a human?
trpt4him
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