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In the case of a planet or asteroid, the absolute magnitude H rather means the apparent magnitude it would have if it were 1 astronomical unit (150,000,000 km) from both the observer and the Sun, and fully illuminated at maximum opposition (a configuration that is only theoretically achievable, with the observer situated on the surface of the Sun).
Saturn is named after the Roman god of wealth and agriculture, who was the father of the god Jupiter.Its astronomical symbol has been traced back to the Greek Oxyrhynchus Papyri, where it can be seen to be a Greek kappa-rho ligature with a horizontal stroke, as an abbreviation for Κρονος (), the Greek name for the planet (). [35]
The dense main rings extend from 7,000 km (4,300 mi) to 80,000 km (50,000 mi) away from Saturn's equator, whose radius is 60,300 km (37,500 mi) (see Major subdivisions). With an estimated local thickness of as little as 10 meters (32' 10") [ 40 ] and as much as 1 km (1093 yards), [ 41 ] they are composed of 99.9% pure water ice with a ...
Saturn’s rings are seen as viewed by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which obtained the images that comprise this mosaic at a distance of approximately 450,000 miles from Saturn April 25, 2007.
Even if you don’t have a decent telescope or a powerful pair of binoculars, you’ll still have a chance to see Saturn in the night sky this week.
Stars that have magnitudes between 1.5 and 2.5 are called second-magnitude; there are some 20 stars brighter than 1.5, which are first-magnitude stars (see the list of brightest stars). For example, Sirius is magnitude −1.46, Arcturus is −0.04, Aldebaran is 0.85, Spica is 1.04, and Procyon is 0.34. Under the ancient magnitude system, all of ...
A truly dark sky has a surface brightness of 2 × 10 −4 cd m −2 or 21.8 mag arcsec −2. [9] [clarification needed] The peak surface brightness of the central region of the Orion Nebula is about 17 Mag/arcsec 2 (about 14 milli nits) and the outer bluish glow has a peak surface brightness of 21.3 Mag/arcsec 2 (about 0.27 millinits). [10]
Mimas, also designated Saturn I, is the seventh-largest natural satellite of Saturn. With a mean diameter of 396.4 kilometres or 246.3 miles, Mimas is the smallest astronomical body known to be roughly rounded in shape due to its own gravity.