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The superior planets, orbiting outside the Earth's orbit, do not exhibit a full range of phases since their maximum phase angles are smaller than 90°. Mars often appears significantly gibbous, it has a maximum phase angle of 45°. Jupiter has a maximum phase angle of 11.1° and Saturn of 6°, [1] so their phases are almost always full.
The phase curve of Venus [15] compared to Mercury, [1] and the brightness excess of Venus.. The relatively flat phase curve of Venus is characteristic of a cloudy planet. [14] In contrast to Mercury where the curve is strongly peaked approaching phase angle zero (full phase) that of Venus is rounded.
In this situation, the latter planet is said to be superior to the former. In the reference frame of the Earth, where the terms were originally used, the inferior planets are Mercury and Venus, while the superior planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Dwarf planets like Ceres or Pluto and most asteroids are 'superior' in the ...
Phase angle (astronomy) Phase angle diagram. In observational astronomy, phase angle is the angle between the light incident onto an observed object and the light reflected from the object. In the context of astronomical observations, this is usually the angle Sun -object-observer. For terrestrial observations, "Sun–object–Earth" is often ...
In astronomy, a planet's elongation is the angular separation between the Sun and the planet, with Earth as the reference point. [1] The greatest elongation is the maximum angular separation. Astronomical tables and websites, such as Heavens-Above, forecast when and where the planets reach their next maximum elongations.
In spherical astronomy, quadrature is the configuration of a celestial object in which its elongation is a right angle (90 degrees), i.e., the direction of the object as viewed from Earth is perpendicular to the position of the Sun relative to Earth. It is applied especially to the position of a superior planet or the Moon at its first and last ...
The eight planets of the Solar System with size to scale (up to down, left to right): Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune (outer planets), Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury (inner planets) A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. [1]
In astronomy, a conjunction occurs when two astronomical objects or spacecraft appear to be close to each other in the sky. This means they have either the same right ascension or the same ecliptic longitude, usually as observed from Earth. [1][2] When two objects always appear close to the ecliptic —such as two planets, the Moon and a planet ...