Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
"Inferior planet" refers to Mercury and Venus, which are closer to the Sun than Earth is. "Superior planet" refers to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (the latter two added later), which are further from the Sun than Earth is. The terms are sometimes used more generally; for example, Earth is an inferior planet relative to Mars.
The apparent brightness of Mercury as seen from Earth is greatest at phase angle 0° (superior conjunction with the Sun) when it can reach magnitude −2.6. [14] At phase angles approaching 180° (inferior conjunction) the planet fades to about magnitude +5 [14] with the exact brightness depending on the phase angle at that particular ...
Diagram showing the eastern and western quadratures of a superior planet like Mars. 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.
Currently, cold surface bodies of liquid are found on two worlds in the Solar System, Earth and Saturn's moon Titan. [1] Earth is the only planet with liquid water on its surface. The other "oceans" are found under thick covers of surface ice. If both liquid and frozen water are counted, Earth ranks fifth in volume of its oceans. [2]
Mean high water neaps (MHWN) – The average of the two high tides on the days of neap tides. Mean sea level (MSL) – This is the average sea level. The MSL is constant for any location over a long period. Mean low water neaps (MLWN) – The average of the two low tides on the days of neap tides.
Total atmospheric mass is 5.1480 × 10 18 kg (1.13494 × 10 19 lb), [36] about 2.5% less than would be inferred from the average sea-level pressure and Earth's area of 51007.2 megahectares, this portion being displaced by Earth's mountainous terrain. Atmospheric pressure is the total weight of the air above unit area at the point where the ...
The Earth phase, Terra phase, terrestrial phase, or phase of Earth, is the shape of the directly sunlit portion of Earth as viewed from the Moon (or elsewhere extraterrestrially). From the Moon, the Earth phases gradually and cyclically change over the period of a synodic month (about 29.53 days), as the orbital positions of the Moon around ...