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The greatest elongation of a given inferior planet occurs when this planet's position, in its orbital path around the Sun, is at tangent to the observer on Earth. Since an inferior planet is well within the area of Earth's orbit around the Sun, observation of its elongation should not pose that much a challenge (compared to deep-sky objects, for example).
The Moon's elongation is its angular distance east of the Sun at any time. At new moon, it is zero and the Moon is said to be in conjunction. At full moon, the elongation is 180° and it is said to be in opposition. In both cases, the Moon is in syzygy, that is, the Sun, Moon and Earth are nearly aligned.
The science of actually measuring positions of celestial objects in the sky is known as astrometry. The primary elements of spherical astronomy are celestial coordinate systems and time. The coordinates of objects on the sky are listed using the equatorial coordinate system, which is based on the projection of Earth's equator onto the celestial ...
Get your telescope ready in September, when Saturn will take center stage in the sky and shine brighter than at any other point in the year. The planet will reach opposition on Sept. 21, around ...
This article is a list of notable unsolved problems in astronomy. Problems may be theoretical or experimental. Theoretical problems result from inability of current theories to explain observed phenomena or experimental results. Experimental problems result from inability to test or investigate a proposed theory.
A trio of celestial sights will gather in the sky during the third weekend of February, an event that will be easy for people of all ages to see -- as long as clouds do not spoil the show.
Redshift-space distortions (RSDs) manifest in two particular ways. The Fingers of God effect is where the galaxy distribution is elongated in redshift space, with an axis of elongation pointed toward the observer. [1] It is caused by a Doppler shift associated with the random peculiar velocities of galaxies bound in structures such as clusters.
Astronomy can also put earthly concerns in perspective. “The universe is just tremendously big, and you are part of it. It makes you have this dual perspective.