1.
Karl Ludwig Harding
–
Karl Ludwig Harding was a German astronomer, who discovered 3 Juno, the third asteroid of the main-belt in 1804. The lunar crater Harding and the asteroid 2003 Harding are named in his honor, from 1786–89, he was educated at the University of Göttingen, where he studied theology, mathematics, and physics. In 1796 Johann Hieronymus Schröter hired Harding as a tutor for his son, Schröter was an enthusiastic astronomer, and Harding was soon appointed observer and inspector in his observatory. In 1804, Harding discovered Juno at Schröters observatory and he then went to Göttingen to assist Carl Friedrich Gauss. There he was professor of astronomy, 593–594 Willy Jahn, Harding, Karl Ludwig, Neue Deutsche Biographie,7, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, pp. 666–667, N. N. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol.3, S.86 Publications by K. L. Harding in Astrophysics Data System
2.
Juno (mythology)
–
Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter, Juno also looked after the women of Rome. As the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire, Juno was called Regina and, together with Jupiter, Junos own warlike aspect among the Romans is apparent in her attire. She often appeared sitting pictured with an armed and wearing a goatskin cloak. The traditional depiction of this aspect was assimilated from the Greek goddess Athena. The name Juno was also thought to be connected to Iove, originally as Diuno. At the beginning of the 20th century, a derivation was proposed from iuven- and this etymology became widely accepted after it was endorsed by Georg Wissowa. Iuuen- is related to Latin aevum and Greek aion through a common Indo-European root referring to a concept of energy or fertile time. The iuvenis is he who has the fullness of vital force, in some inscriptions Jupiter himself is called Iuuntus, and one of the epithets of Jupiter is Ioviste, a superlative form of iuuen- meaning the youngest. Iuventas, Youth, was one of two deities who refused to leave the Capitol when the building of the new Temple of Capitoline Jove required the exauguration of deities who already occupied the site, Juno is the equivalent to Hera, the Greek goddess for love and marriage. Juno is the Roman goddess of love and marriage, Junos theology is one of the most complex and disputed issues in Roman religion. Even more than other major Roman deities, Juno held a number of significant and diverse epithets, names and titles representing various aspects. In accordance with her role as a goddess of marriage. However, other epithets of Juno have wider implications and are thematically linked. Juno is certainly the divine protectress of the community, who shows both a sovereign and a fertility character, often associated with a military one and she is also attested at Praeneste, Aricia, Ardea, Gabii. In five Latin towns a month was named after Juno, outside Latium in Campania at Teanum she was Populona, in Umbria at Pisaurum Lucina, at Terventum in Samnium Regina, at Pisarum Regina Matrona, at Aesernia in Samnium Regina Populona. In Rome she was since the most ancient times named Lucina, Mater and it is debated whether she was also known as Curitis before the evocatio of the Juno of Falerii, this though seems probable. Her various epithets thus show a complex of mutually interrelated functions that in the view of G, the ancient called her Covella in her function of helper in the labours of the new moon
3.
Minor planet
–
A minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is neither a planet nor exclusively classified as a comet. Minor planets can be dwarf planets, asteroids, trojans, centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, as of 2016, the orbits of 709,706 minor planets were archived at the Minor Planet Center,469,275 of which had received permanent numbers. The first minor planet to be discovered was Ceres in 1801, the term minor planet has been used since the 19th century to describe these objects. The term planetoid has also used, especially for larger objects such as those the International Astronomical Union has called dwarf planets since 2006. Historically, the asteroid, minor planet, and planetoid have been more or less synonymous. This terminology has become complicated by the discovery of numerous minor planets beyond the orbit of Jupiter. A Minor planet seen releasing gas may be classified as a comet. Before 2006, the IAU had officially used the term minor planet, during its 2006 meeting, the IAU reclassified minor planets and comets into dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies. Objects are called dwarf planets if their self-gravity is sufficient to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium, all other minor planets and comets are called small Solar System bodies. The IAU stated that the minor planet may still be used. However, for purposes of numbering and naming, the distinction between minor planet and comet is still used. Hundreds of thousands of planets have been discovered within the Solar System. The Minor Planet Center has documented over 167 million observations and 729,626 minor planets, of these,20,570 have official names. As of March 2017, the lowest-numbered unnamed minor planet is 1974 FV1, as of March 2017, the highest-numbered named minor planet is 458063 Gustavomuler. There are various broad minor-planet populations, Asteroids, traditionally, most have been bodies in the inner Solar System. Near-Earth asteroids, those whose orbits take them inside the orbit of Mars. Further subclassification of these, based on distance, is used, Apohele asteroids orbit inside of Earths perihelion distance. Aten asteroids, those that have semi-major axes of less than Earths, Apollo asteroids are those asteroids with a semimajor axis greater than Earths, while having a perihelion distance of 1.017 AU or less. Like Aten asteroids, Apollo asteroids are Earth-crossers, amor asteroids are those near-Earth asteroids that approach the orbit of Earth from beyond, but do not cross it
4.
Asteroid belt
–
The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids, Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, the total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4% that of the Moon, or 22% that of Pluto, and roughly twice that of Plutos moon Charon. Ceres, the belts only dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particle, the asteroid material is so thinly distributed that numerous unmanned spacecraft have traversed it without incident. Nonetheless, collisions between large asteroids do occur, and these can form a family whose members have similar orbital characteristics. Individual asteroids within the belt are categorized by their spectra. The asteroid belt formed from the solar nebula as a group of planetesimals. Planetesimals are the precursors of the protoplanets. Between Mars and Jupiter, however, gravitational perturbations from Jupiter imbued the protoplanets with too much energy for them to accrete into a planet. Collisions became too violent, and instead of fusing together, the planetesimals, as a result,99. 9% of the asteroid belts original mass was lost in the first 100 million years of the Solar Systems history. Some fragments eventually found their way into the inner Solar System, Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about the Sun forms an orbital resonance with Jupiter. At these orbital distances, a Kirkwood gap occurs as they are swept into other orbits. Classes of small Solar System bodies in other regions are the objects, the centaurs, the Kuiper belt objects, the scattered disc objects, the sednoids. On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory. The finding was unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are considered to sprout jets. According to one of the scientists, The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids. This pattern, now known as the Titius–Bode law, predicted the semi-major axes of the six planets of the provided one allowed for a gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
5.
Perihelion and aphelion
–
The perihelion is the point in the orbit of a celestial body where it is nearest to its orbital focus, generally a star. It is the opposite of aphelion, which is the point in the orbit where the body is farthest from its focus. The word perihelion stems from the Ancient Greek words peri, meaning around or surrounding, aphelion derives from the preposition apo, meaning away, off, apart. According to Keplers first law of motion, all planets, comets. Hence, a body has a closest and a farthest point from its parent object, that is, a perihelion. Each extreme is known as an apsis, orbital eccentricity measures the flatness of the orbit. Because of the distance at aphelion, only 93. 55% of the solar radiation from the Sun falls on a given area of land as does at perihelion. However, this fluctuation does not account for the seasons, as it is summer in the northern hemisphere when it is winter in the southern hemisphere and vice versa. Instead, seasons result from the tilt of Earths axis, which is 23.4 degrees away from perpendicular to the plane of Earths orbit around the sun. Winter falls on the hemisphere where sunlight strikes least directly, and summer falls where sunlight strikes most directly, in the northern hemisphere, summer occurs at the same time as aphelion. Despite this, there are larger land masses in the northern hemisphere, consequently, summers are 2.3 °C warmer in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere under similar conditions. Apsis Ellipse Solstice Dates and times of Earths perihelion and aphelion, 2000–2025 from the United States Naval Observatory
6.
Astronomical unit
–
The astronomical unit is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun. However, that varies as Earth orbits the Sun, from a maximum to a minimum. Originally conceived as the average of Earths aphelion and perihelion, it is now defined as exactly 149597870700 metres, the astronomical unit is used primarily as a convenient yardstick for measuring distances within the Solar System or around other stars. However, it is also a component in the definition of another unit of astronomical length. A variety of symbols and abbreviations have been in use for the astronomical unit. In a 1976 resolution, the International Astronomical Union used the symbol A for the astronomical unit, in 2006, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures recommended ua as the symbol for the unit. In 2012, the IAU, noting that various symbols are presently in use for the astronomical unit, in the 2014 revision of the SI Brochure, the BIPM used the unit symbol au. In ISO 80000-3, the symbol of the unit is ua. Earths orbit around the Sun is an ellipse, the semi-major axis of this ellipse is defined to be half of the straight line segment that joins the aphelion and perihelion. The centre of the sun lies on this line segment. In addition, it mapped out exactly the largest straight-line distance that Earth traverses over the course of a year, knowing Earths shift and a stars shift enabled the stars distance to be calculated. But all measurements are subject to some degree of error or uncertainty, improvements in precision have always been a key to improving astronomical understanding. Improving measurements were continually checked and cross-checked by means of our understanding of the laws of celestial mechanics, the expected positions and distances of objects at an established time are calculated from these laws, and assembled into a collection of data called an ephemeris. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides one of several ephemeris computation services, in 1976, in order to establish a yet more precise measure for the astronomical unit, the IAU formally adopted a new definition. Equivalently, by definition, one AU is the radius of an unperturbed circular Newtonian orbit about the sun of a particle having infinitesimal mass. As with all measurements, these rely on measuring the time taken for photons to be reflected from an object. However, for precision the calculations require adjustment for such as the motions of the probe. In addition, the measurement of the time itself must be translated to a scale that accounts for relativistic time dilation
7.
Semi-major and semi-minor axes
–
In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the widest points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis is one half of the axis, and thus runs from the centre, through a focus. Essentially, it is the radius of an orbit at the two most distant points. For the special case of a circle, the axis is the radius. One can think of the axis as an ellipses long radius. The semi-major axis of a hyperbola is, depending on the convention, thus it is the distance from the center to either vertex of the hyperbola. A parabola can be obtained as the limit of a sequence of ellipses where one focus is fixed as the other is allowed to move arbitrarily far away in one direction. Thus a and b tend to infinity, a faster than b, the semi-minor axis is a line segment associated with most conic sections that is at right angles with the semi-major axis and has one end at the center of the conic section. It is one of the axes of symmetry for the curve, in an ellipse, the one, in a hyperbola. The semi-major axis is the value of the maximum and minimum distances r max and r min of the ellipse from a focus — that is. In astronomy these extreme points are called apsis, the semi-minor axis of an ellipse is the geometric mean of these distances, b = r max r min. The eccentricity of an ellipse is defined as e =1 − b 2 a 2 so r min = a, r max = a. Now consider the equation in polar coordinates, with one focus at the origin, the mean value of r = ℓ / and r = ℓ /, for θ = π and θ =0 is a = ℓ1 − e 2. In an ellipse, the axis is the geometric mean of the distance from the center to either focus. The semi-minor axis of an ellipse runs from the center of the ellipse to the edge of the ellipse, the semi-minor axis is half of the minor axis. The minor axis is the longest line segment perpendicular to the axis that connects two points on the ellipses edge. The semi-minor axis b is related to the axis a through the eccentricity e. A parabola can be obtained as the limit of a sequence of ellipses where one focus is fixed as the other is allowed to move arbitrarily far away in one direction
8.
Orbital eccentricity
–
The orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is an orbit, values between 0 and 1 form an elliptical orbit,1 is a parabolic escape orbit. The term derives its name from the parameters of conic sections and it is normally used for the isolated two-body problem, but extensions exist for objects following a rosette orbit through the galaxy. In a two-body problem with inverse-square-law force, every orbit is a Kepler orbit, the eccentricity of this Kepler orbit is a non-negative number that defines its shape. The limit case between an ellipse and a hyperbola, when e equals 1, is parabola, radial trajectories are classified as elliptic, parabolic, or hyperbolic based on the energy of the orbit, not the eccentricity. Radial orbits have zero angular momentum and hence eccentricity equal to one, keeping the energy constant and reducing the angular momentum, elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic orbits each tend to the corresponding type of radial trajectory while e tends to 1. For a repulsive force only the trajectory, including the radial version, is applicable. For elliptical orbits, a simple proof shows that arcsin yields the projection angle of a circle to an ellipse of eccentricity e. For example, to view the eccentricity of the planet Mercury, next, tilt any circular object by that angle and the apparent ellipse projected to your eye will be of that same eccentricity. From Medieval Latin eccentricus, derived from Greek ἔκκεντρος ekkentros out of the center, from ἐκ- ek-, eccentric first appeared in English in 1551, with the definition a circle in which the earth, sun. Five years later, in 1556, a form of the word was added. The eccentricity of an orbit can be calculated from the state vectors as the magnitude of the eccentricity vector, e = | e | where. For elliptical orbits it can also be calculated from the periapsis and apoapsis since rp = a and ra = a, where a is the semimajor axis. E = r a − r p r a + r p =1 −2 r a r p +1 where, rp is the radius at periapsis. For Earths annual orbit path, ra/rp ratio = longest_radius / shortest_radius ≈1.034 relative to center point of path, the eccentricity of the Earths orbit is currently about 0.0167, the Earths orbit is nearly circular. Venus and Neptune have even lower eccentricity, over hundreds of thousands of years, the eccentricity of the Earths orbit varies from nearly 0.0034 to almost 0.058 as a result of gravitational attractions among the planets. The table lists the values for all planets and dwarf planets, Mercury has the greatest orbital eccentricity of any planet in the Solar System. Such eccentricity is sufficient for Mercury to receive twice as much solar irradiation at perihelion compared to aphelion, before its demotion from planet status in 2006, Pluto was considered to be the planet with the most eccentric orbit
9.
Mean anomaly
–
In celestial mechanics, the mean anomaly is an angle used in calculating the position of a body in an elliptical orbit in the classical two-body problem. Define T as the time required for a body to complete one orbit. In time T, the radius vector sweeps out 2π radians or 360°. The average rate of sweep, n, is then n =2 π T or n =360 ∘ T, define τ as the time at which the body is at the pericenter. From the above definitions, a new quantity, M, the mean anomaly can be defined M = n, because the rate of increase, n, is a constant average, the mean anomaly increases uniformly from 0 to 2π radians or 0° to 360° during each orbit. It is equal to 0 when the body is at the pericenter, π radians at the apocenter, if the mean anomaly is known at any given instant, it can be calculated at any later instant by simply adding n δt where δt represents the time difference. Mean anomaly does not measure an angle between any physical objects and it is simply a convenient uniform measure of how far around its orbit a body has progressed since pericenter. The mean anomaly is one of three parameters that define a position along an orbit, the other two being the eccentric anomaly and the true anomaly. Define l as the longitude, the angular distance of the body from the same reference direction. Thus mean anomaly is also M = l − ϖ, mean angular motion can also be expressed, n = μ a 3, where μ is a gravitational parameter which varies with the masses of the objects, and a is the semi-major axis of the orbit. Mean anomaly can then be expanded, M = μ a 3, and here mean anomaly represents uniform angular motion on a circle of radius a
10.
Orbital inclination
–
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an objects orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Earth directly above the equator, the plane of the orbit is the same as the Earths equatorial plane. The general case is that the orbit is tilted, it spends half an orbit over the northern hemisphere. If the orbit swung between 20° north latitude and 20° south latitude, then its orbital inclination would be 20°, the inclination is one of the six orbital elements describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit. It is the angle between the plane and the plane of reference, normally stated in degrees. For a satellite orbiting a planet, the plane of reference is usually the plane containing the planets equator, for planets in the Solar System, the plane of reference is usually the ecliptic, the plane in which the Earth orbits the Sun. This reference plane is most practical for Earth-based observers, therefore, Earths inclination is, by definition, zero. Inclination could instead be measured with respect to another plane, such as the Suns equator or the invariable plane, the inclination of orbits of natural or artificial satellites is measured relative to the equatorial plane of the body they orbit, if they orbit sufficiently closely. The equatorial plane is the perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the central body. An inclination of 30° could also be described using an angle of 150°, the convention is that the normal orbit is prograde, an orbit in the same direction as the planet rotates. Inclinations greater than 90° describe retrograde orbits, thus, An inclination of 0° means the orbiting body has a prograde orbit in the planets equatorial plane. An inclination greater than 0° and less than 90° also describe prograde orbits, an inclination of 63. 4° is often called a critical inclination, when describing artificial satellites orbiting the Earth, because they have zero apogee drift. An inclination of exactly 90° is an orbit, in which the spacecraft passes over the north and south poles of the planet. An inclination greater than 90° and less than 180° is a retrograde orbit, an inclination of exactly 180° is a retrograde equatorial orbit. For gas giants, the orbits of moons tend to be aligned with the giant planets equator, the inclination of exoplanets or members of multiple stars is the angle of the plane of the orbit relative to the plane perpendicular to the line-of-sight from Earth to the object. An inclination of 0° is an orbit, meaning the plane of its orbit is parallel to the sky. An inclination of 90° is an orbit, meaning the plane of its orbit is perpendicular to the sky
11.
Longitude of the ascending node
–
The longitude of the ascending node is one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in space. It is the angle from a direction, called the origin of longitude, to the direction of the ascending node. The ascending node is the point where the orbit of the passes through the plane of reference. Commonly used reference planes and origins of longitude include, For a geocentric orbit, Earths equatorial plane as the plane. In this case, the longitude is called the right ascension of the ascending node. The angle is measured eastwards from the First Point of Aries to the node, for a heliocentric orbit, the ecliptic as the reference plane, and the First Point of Aries as the origin of longitude. The angle is measured counterclockwise from the First Point of Aries to the node, the angle is measured eastwards from north to the node. pp.40,72,137, chap. In the case of a star known only from visual observations, it is not possible to tell which node is ascending. In this case the orbital parameter which is recorded is the longitude of the node, Ω, here, n=<nx, ny, nz> is a vector pointing towards the ascending node. The reference plane is assumed to be the xy-plane, and the origin of longitude is taken to be the positive x-axis, K is the unit vector, which is the normal vector to the xy reference plane. For non-inclined orbits, Ω is undefined, for computation it is then, by convention, set equal to zero, that is, the ascending node is placed in the reference direction, which is equivalent to letting n point towards the positive x-axis. Kepler orbits Equinox Orbital node perturbation of the plane can cause revolution of the ascending node
12.
Argument of periapsis
–
The argument of periapsis, symbolized as ω, is one of the orbital elements of an orbiting body. Parametrically, ω is the angle from the ascending node to its periapsis. For specific types of orbits, words such as perihelion, perigee, periastron, an argument of periapsis of 0° means that the orbiting body will be at its closest approach to the central body at the same moment that it crosses the plane of reference from South to North. An argument of periapsis of 90° means that the body will reach periapsis at its northmost distance from the plane of reference. Adding the argument of periapsis to the longitude of the ascending node gives the longitude of the periapsis, however, especially in discussions of binary stars and exoplanets, the terms longitude of periapsis or longitude of periastron are often used synonymously with argument of periapsis. In the case of equatorial orbits, the argument is strictly undefined, where, ex and ey are the x- and y-components of the eccentricity vector e. In the case of circular orbits it is assumed that the periapsis is placed at the ascending node. Kepler orbit Orbital mechanics Orbital node
13.
Proper orbital elements
–
The proper orbital elements of an orbit are constants of motion of an object in space that remain practically unchanged over an astronomically long timescale. The term is used to describe the three quantities, proper semimajor axis, proper eccentricity, and proper inclination. The proper elements can be contrasted with the osculating Keplerian orbital elements observed at a time or epoch, such as the semi-major axis, eccentricity. Those osculating elements change in a quasi-periodic and predictable due to such effects as perturbations from planets or other bodies. In the Solar System, such changes usually occur on timescales of thousands of years, for most bodies, the osculating elements are relatively close to the proper elements because precession and perturbation effects are relatively small. For over 99% of asteroids in the belt, the differences are less than 0.02 AU,0.1. Nevertheless, this difference is non-negligible for any purposes where precision is of importance, to obtain proper elements for an object, one usually conducts a detailed simulation of its motion over timespans of several millions of years. Such a simulation must take into account many details of celestial mechanics including perturbations by the planets, subsequently, one extracts quantities from the simulation which remain unchanged over this long timespan, for example, the mean inclination, eccentricity, and semi-major axis. These are the orbital elements. Historically, various approximate analytic calculations were made, starting with those of Kiyotsugu Hirayama in the early 20th century, later analytic methods often included thousands of perturbing corrections for each particular object. At present the most prominent use of orbital elements is in the study of asteroid families. A Mars-crosser asteroid 132 Aethra is the lowest numbered asteroid to not have any proper orbital elements, the Determination of Asteroid Proper Elements, p. 603-612 in Asteroids III, University of Arizona Press. Latest calculations of proper elements for numbered minor planets at astDys
14.
Degree (angle)
–
A degree, usually denoted by °, is a measurement of a plane angle, defined so that a full rotation is 360 degrees. It is not an SI unit, as the SI unit of measure is the radian. Because a full rotation equals 2π radians, one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians, the original motivation for choosing the degree as a unit of rotations and angles is unknown. One theory states that it is related to the fact that 360 is approximately the number of days in a year. Ancient astronomers noticed that the sun, which follows through the path over the course of the year. Some ancient calendars, such as the Persian calendar, used 360 days for a year, the use of a calendar with 360 days may be related to the use of sexagesimal numbers. The earliest trigonometry, used by the Babylonian astronomers and their Greek successors, was based on chords of a circle, a chord of length equal to the radius made a natural base quantity. One sixtieth of this, using their standard sexagesimal divisions, was a degree, Aristarchus of Samos and Hipparchus seem to have been among the first Greek scientists to exploit Babylonian astronomical knowledge and techniques systematically. Timocharis, Aristarchus, Aristillus, Archimedes, and Hipparchus were the first Greeks known to divide the circle in 360 degrees of 60 arc minutes, eratosthenes used a simpler sexagesimal system dividing a circle into 60 parts. Furthermore, it is divisible by every number from 1 to 10 except 7 and this property has many useful applications, such as dividing the world into 24 time zones, each of which is nominally 15° of longitude, to correlate with the established 24-hour day convention. Finally, it may be the case more than one of these factors has come into play. For many practical purposes, a degree is a small enough angle that whole degrees provide sufficient precision. When this is not the case, as in astronomy or for geographic coordinates, degree measurements may be written using decimal degrees, with the symbol behind the decimals. Alternatively, the sexagesimal unit subdivisions can be used. One degree is divided into 60 minutes, and one minute into 60 seconds, use of degrees-minutes-seconds is also called DMS notation. These subdivisions, also called the arcminute and arcsecond, are represented by a single and double prime. For example,40. 1875° = 40° 11′ 15″, or, using quotation mark characters, additional precision can be provided using decimals for the arcseconds component. The older system of thirds, fourths, etc. which continues the sexagesimal unit subdivision, was used by al-Kashi and other ancient astronomers, but is rarely used today
15.
Day
–
In common usage, it is either an interval equal to 24 hours or daytime, the consecutive period of time during which the Sun is above the horizon. The period of time during which the Earth completes one rotation with respect to the Sun is called a solar day, several definitions of this universal human concept are used according to context, need and convenience. In 1960, the second was redefined in terms of the motion of the Earth. The unit of measurement day, redefined in 1960 as 86400 SI seconds and symbolized d, is not an SI unit, but is accepted for use with SI. The word day may also refer to a day of the week or to a date, as in answer to the question. The life patterns of humans and many species are related to Earths solar day. In recent decades the average length of a day on Earth has been about 86400.002 seconds. A day, understood as the span of time it takes for the Earth to make one rotation with respect to the celestial background or a distant star, is called a stellar day. This period of rotation is about 4 minutes less than 24 hours, mainly due to tidal effects, the Earths rotational period is not constant, resulting in further minor variations for both solar days and stellar days. Other planets and moons have stellar and solar days of different lengths to Earths, besides the day of 24 hours, the word day is used for several different spans of time based on the rotation of the Earth around its axis. An important one is the day, defined as the time it takes for the Sun to return to its culmination point. Because the Earth orbits the Sun elliptically as the Earth spins on an inclined axis, on average over the year this day is equivalent to 24 hours. A day, in the sense of daytime that is distinguished from night-time, is defined as the period during which sunlight directly reaches the ground. The length of daytime averages slightly more than half of the 24-hour day, two effects make daytime on average longer than nights. The Sun is not a point, but has an apparent size of about 32 minutes of arc, additionally, the atmosphere refracts sunlight in such a way that some of it reaches the ground even when the Sun is below the horizon by about 34 minutes of arc. So the first light reaches the ground when the centre of the Sun is still below the horizon by about 50 minutes of arc, the difference in time depends on the angle at which the Sun rises and sets, but can amount to around seven minutes. Ancient custom has a new day start at either the rising or setting of the Sun on the local horizon, the exact moment of, and the interval between, two sunrises or sunsets depends on the geographical position, and the time of year. A more constant day can be defined by the Sun passing through the local meridian, the exact moment is dependent on the geographical longitude, and to a lesser extent on the time of the year
16.
Apsis
–
An apsis is an extreme point in an objects orbit. The word comes via Latin from Greek and is cognate with apse, for elliptic orbits about a larger body, there are two apsides, named with the prefixes peri- and ap-, or apo- added to a reference to the thing being orbited. For a body orbiting the Sun, the point of least distance is the perihelion, the terms become periastron and apastron when discussing orbits around other stars. For any satellite of Earth including the Moon the point of least distance is the perigee, for objects in Lunar orbit, the point of least distance is the pericynthion and the greatest distance the apocynthion. For any orbits around a center of mass, there are the terms pericenter and apocenter, periapsis and apoapsis are equivalent alternatives. A straight line connecting the pericenter and apocenter is the line of apsides and this is the major axis of the ellipse, its greatest diameter. For a two-body system the center of mass of the lies on this line at one of the two foci of the ellipse. When one body is larger than the other it may be taken to be at this focus. Historically, in systems, apsides were measured from the center of the Earth. In orbital mechanics, the apsis technically refers to the distance measured between the centers of mass of the central and orbiting body. However, in the case of spacecraft, the family of terms are used to refer to the orbital altitude of the spacecraft from the surface of the central body. The arithmetic mean of the two limiting distances is the length of the axis a. The geometric mean of the two distances is the length of the semi-minor axis b, the geometric mean of the two limiting speeds is −2 ε = μ a which is the speed of a body in a circular orbit whose radius is a. The words pericenter and apocenter are often seen, although periapsis/apoapsis are preferred in technical usage, various related terms are used for other celestial objects. The -gee, -helion and -astron and -galacticon forms are used in the astronomical literature when referring to the Earth, Sun, stars. The suffix -jove is occasionally used for Jupiter, while -saturnium has very rarely used in the last 50 years for Saturn. The -gee form is used as a generic closest approach to planet term instead of specifically applying to the Earth. During the Apollo program, the terms pericynthion and apocynthion were used when referring to the Moon, regarding black holes, the term peri/apomelasma was used by physicist Geoffrey A. Landis in 1998 before peri/aponigricon appeared in the scientific literature in 2002
17.
Minute and second of arc
–
A minute of arc, arcminute, arc minute, or minute arc is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60 of one degree. Since one degree is 1/360 of a turn, one minute of arc is 1/21600 of a turn, a second of arc, arcsecond, or arc second is 1/60 of an arcminute, 1/3600 of a degree, 1/1296000 of a turn, and π/648000 of a radian. To express even smaller angles, standard SI prefixes can be employed, the number of square arcminutes in a complete sphere is 4 π2 =466560000 π ≈148510660 square arcminutes. The standard symbol for marking the arcminute is the prime, though a single quote is used where only ASCII characters are permitted. One arcminute is thus written 1′ and it is also abbreviated as arcmin or amin or, less commonly, the prime with a circumflex over it. The standard symbol for the arcsecond is the prime, though a double quote is commonly used where only ASCII characters are permitted. One arcsecond is thus written 1″ and it is also abbreviated as arcsec or asec. In celestial navigation, seconds of arc are used in calculations. This notation has been carried over into marine GPS receivers, which normally display latitude and longitude in the format by default. An arcsecond is approximately the angle subtended by a U. S. dime coin at a distance of 4 kilometres, a milliarcsecond is about the size of a dime atop the Eiffel Tower as seen from New York City. A microarcsecond is about the size of a period at the end of a sentence in the Apollo mission manuals left on the Moon as seen from Earth, since antiquity the arcminute and arcsecond have been used in astronomy. The principal exception is Right ascension in equatorial coordinates, which is measured in units of hours, minutes. These small angles may also be written in milliarcseconds, or thousandths of an arcsecond, the unit of distance, the parsec, named from the parallax of one arcsecond, was developed for such parallax measurements. It is the distance at which the radius of the Earths orbit would subtend an angle of one arcsecond. The ESA astrometric space probe Gaia is hoped to measure star positions to 20 microarcseconds when it begins producing catalog positions sometime after 2016, there are about 1.3 trillion µas in a turn. Currently the best catalog positions of stars actually measured are in terms of milliarcseconds, apart from the Sun, the star with the largest angular diameter from Earth is R Doradus, a red supergiant with a diameter of 0.05 arcsecond. The dwarf planet Pluto has proven difficult to resolve because its angular diameter is about 0.1 arcsecond, space telescopes are not affected by the Earths atmosphere but are diffraction limited. For example, the Hubble space telescope can reach a size of stars down to about 0. 1″
18.
Spheroid
–
A spheroid, or ellipsoid of revolution, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes, in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. If the ellipse is rotated about its axis, the result is a prolate spheroid. If the ellipse is rotated about its axis, the result is an oblate spheroid. If the generating ellipse is a circle, the result is a sphere, because of the combined effects of gravity and rotation, the Earths shape is not quite a sphere but instead is slightly flattened in the direction of its axis of rotation. For that reason, in cartography the Earth is often approximated by an oblate spheroid instead of a sphere, the current World Geodetic System model uses a spheroid whose radius is 6,378.137 km at the equator and 6,356.752 km at the poles. The semi-major axis a is the radius of the spheroid. There are two cases, c < a, oblate spheroid c > a, prolate spheroid The case of a = c reduces to a sphere. An oblate spheroid with c < a has surface area S o b l a t e =2 π a 2 where e 2 =1 − c 2 a 2. The oblate spheroid is generated by rotation about the z-axis of an ellipse with semi-major axis a and semi-minor axis c, therefore e may be identified as the eccentricity. A prolate spheroid with c > a has surface area S p r o l a t e =2 π a 2 where e 2 =1 − a 2 c 2. The prolate spheroid is generated by rotation about the z-axis of an ellipse with semi-major axis c and semi-minor axis a and these formulas are identical in the sense that the formula for Soblate can be used to calculate the surface area of a prolate spheroid and vice versa. However, e then becomes imaginary and can no longer directly be identified with the eccentricity, both of these results may be cast into many other forms using standard mathematical identities and relations between parameters of the ellipse. The volume inside a spheroid is 4π/3a2c ≈4. 19a2c, if A = 2a is the equatorial diameter, and C = 2c is the polar diameter, the volume is π/6A2C ≈0. 523A2C. Both of these curvatures are always positive, so every point on a spheroid is elliptic. These are just two of different parameters used to define an ellipse and its solid body counterparts. The most common shapes for the density distribution of protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus are spherical, prolate and oblate spheroidal, deformed nuclear shapes occur as a result of the competition between electromagnetic repulsion between protons, surface tension and quantum shell effects. An extreme example of a planet in science fiction is Mesklin, in Hal Clements novel Mission of Gravity. The prolate spheroid is the shape of the ball in several sports, several moons of the Solar system approximate prolate spheroids in shape, though they are actually triaxial ellipsoids
19.
Volume
–
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by a closed surface, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains. Volume is often quantified numerically using the SI derived unit, the cubic metre, three dimensional mathematical shapes are also assigned volumes. Volumes of some simple shapes, such as regular, straight-edged, Volumes of a complicated shape can be calculated by integral calculus if a formula exists for the shapes boundary. Where a variance in shape and volume occurs, such as those that exist between different human beings, these can be calculated using techniques such as the Body Volume Index. One-dimensional figures and two-dimensional shapes are assigned zero volume in the three-dimensional space, the volume of a solid can be determined by fluid displacement. Displacement of liquid can also be used to determine the volume of a gas, the combined volume of two substances is usually greater than the volume of one of the substances. However, sometimes one substance dissolves in the other and the volume is not additive. In differential geometry, volume is expressed by means of the volume form, in thermodynamics, volume is a fundamental parameter, and is a conjugate variable to pressure. Any unit of length gives a unit of volume, the volume of a cube whose sides have the given length. For example, a cubic centimetre is the volume of a cube whose sides are one centimetre in length, in the International System of Units, the standard unit of volume is the cubic metre. The metric system also includes the litre as a unit of volume, thus 1 litre =3 =1000 cubic centimetres =0.001 cubic metres, so 1 cubic metre =1000 litres. Small amounts of liquid are often measured in millilitres, where 1 millilitre =0.001 litres =1 cubic centimetre. Capacity is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the applied to the content of a vessel, and to liquids, grain, or the like. Capacity is not identical in meaning to volume, though closely related, Units of capacity are the SI litre and its derived units, and Imperial units such as gill, pint, gallon, and others. Units of volume are the cubes of units of length, in SI the units of volume and capacity are closely related, one litre is exactly 1 cubic decimetre, the capacity of a cube with a 10 cm side. In other systems the conversion is not trivial, the capacity of a fuel tank is rarely stated in cubic feet, for example. The density of an object is defined as the ratio of the mass to the volume, the inverse of density is specific volume which is defined as volume divided by mass. Specific volume is an important in thermodynamics where the volume of a working fluid is often an important parameter of a system being studied
20.
Mass
–
In physics, mass is a property of a physical body. It is the measure of a resistance to acceleration when a net force is applied. It also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies. The basic SI unit of mass is the kilogram, Mass is not the same as weight, even though mass is often determined by measuring the objects weight using a spring scale, rather than comparing it directly with known masses. An object on the Moon would weigh less than it does on Earth because of the lower gravity and this is because weight is a force, while mass is the property that determines the strength of this force. In Newtonian physics, mass can be generalized as the amount of matter in an object, however, at very high speeds, special relativity postulates that energy is an additional source of mass. Thus, any body having mass has an equivalent amount of energy. In addition, matter is a defined term in science. There are several distinct phenomena which can be used to measure mass, active gravitational mass measures the gravitational force exerted by an object. Passive gravitational mass measures the force exerted on an object in a known gravitational field. The mass of an object determines its acceleration in the presence of an applied force, according to Newtons second law of motion, if a body of fixed mass m is subjected to a single force F, its acceleration a is given by F/m. A bodys mass also determines the degree to which it generates or is affected by a gravitational field and this is sometimes referred to as gravitational mass. The standard International System of Units unit of mass is the kilogram, the kilogram is 1000 grams, first defined in 1795 as one cubic decimeter of water at the melting point of ice. Then in 1889, the kilogram was redefined as the mass of the prototype kilogram. As of January 2013, there are proposals for redefining the kilogram yet again. In this context, the mass has units of eV/c2, the electronvolt and its multiples, such as the MeV, are commonly used in particle physics. The atomic mass unit is 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, the atomic mass unit is convenient for expressing the masses of atoms and molecules. Outside the SI system, other units of mass include, the slug is an Imperial unit of mass, the pound is a unit of both mass and force, used mainly in the United States
21.
Density
–
The density, or more precisely, the volumetric mass density, of a substance is its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ, although the Latin letter D can also be used. Mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume, ρ = m V, where ρ is the density, m is the mass, and V is the volume. In some cases, density is defined as its weight per unit volume. For a pure substance the density has the numerical value as its mass concentration. Different materials usually have different densities, and density may be relevant to buoyancy, purity, osmium and iridium are the densest known elements at standard conditions for temperature and pressure but certain chemical compounds may be denser. Thus a relative density less than one means that the floats in water. The density of a material varies with temperature and pressure and this variation is typically small for solids and liquids but much greater for gases. Increasing the pressure on an object decreases the volume of the object, increasing the temperature of a substance decreases its density by increasing its volume. In most materials, heating the bottom of a results in convection of the heat from the bottom to the top. This causes it to rise relative to more dense unheated material, the reciprocal of the density of a substance is occasionally called its specific volume, a term sometimes used in thermodynamics. Density is a property in that increasing the amount of a substance does not increase its density. Archimedes knew that the irregularly shaped wreath could be crushed into a cube whose volume could be calculated easily and compared with the mass, upon this discovery, he leapt from his bath and ran naked through the streets shouting, Eureka. As a result, the term eureka entered common parlance and is used today to indicate a moment of enlightenment, the story first appeared in written form in Vitruvius books of architecture, two centuries after it supposedly took place. Some scholars have doubted the accuracy of this tale, saying among other things that the method would have required precise measurements that would have been difficult to make at the time, from the equation for density, mass density has units of mass divided by volume. As there are units of mass and volume covering many different magnitudes there are a large number of units for mass density in use. The SI unit of kilogram per metre and the cgs unit of gram per cubic centimetre are probably the most commonly used units for density.1,000 kg/m3 equals 1 g/cm3. In industry, other larger or smaller units of mass and or volume are often more practical, see below for a list of some of the most common units of density
22.
Escape velocity
–
The escape velocity from Earth is about 11.186 km/s at the surface. More generally, escape velocity is the speed at which the sum of a kinetic energy. With escape velocity in a direction pointing away from the ground of a massive body, once escape velocity is achieved, no further impulse need be applied for it to continue in its escape. When given a speed V greater than the speed v e. In these equations atmospheric friction is not taken into account, escape velocity is only required to send a ballistic object on a trajectory that will allow the object to escape the gravity well of the mass M. The existence of escape velocity is a consequence of conservation of energy, by adding speed to the object it expands the possible places that can be reached until with enough energy they become infinite. For a given gravitational potential energy at a position, the escape velocity is the minimum speed an object without propulsion needs to be able to escape from the gravity. Escape velocity is actually a speed because it does not specify a direction, no matter what the direction of travel is, the simplest way of deriving the formula for escape velocity is to use conservation of energy. Imagine that a spaceship of mass m is at a distance r from the center of mass of the planet and its initial speed is equal to its escape velocity, v e. At its final state, it will be a distance away from the planet. The same result is obtained by a calculation, in which case the variable r represents the radial coordinate or reduced circumference of the Schwarzschild metric. All speeds and velocities measured with respect to the field, additionally, the escape velocity at a point in space is equal to the speed that an object would have if it started at rest from an infinite distance and was pulled by gravity to that point. In common usage, the point is on the surface of a planet or moon. On the surface of the Earth, the velocity is about 11.2 km/s. However, at 9,000 km altitude in space, it is less than 7.1 km/s. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the escaping object and it does not matter if the mass is 1 kg or 1,000 kg, what differs is the amount of energy required. For an object of mass m the energy required to escape the Earths gravitational field is GMm / r, a related quantity is the specific orbital energy which is essentially the sum of the kinetic and potential energy divided by the mass. An object has reached escape velocity when the orbital energy is greater or equal to zero
23.
Albedo
–
Albedo is a measure for reflectance or optical brightness. It is dimensionless and measured on a scale from zero to one, surface albedo is defined as the ratio of radiation reflected to the radiation incident on a surface. The proportion reflected is not only determined by properties of the surface itself and these factors vary with atmospheric composition, geographic location and time. While bi-hemispherical reflectance is calculated for an angle of incidence. The temporal resolution may range from seconds to daily, seasonal or annual averages, unless given for a specific wavelength, albedo refers to the entire spectrum of solar radiation. Due to measurement constraints, it is given for the spectrum in which most solar energy reaches the surface. This spectrum includes visible light, which explains why surfaces with a low albedo appear dark, albedo is an important concept in climatology, astronomy, and environmental management. The term albedo was introduced into optics by Johann Heinrich Lambert in his 1760 work Photometria, any albedo in visible light falls within a range of about 0.9 for fresh snow to about 0.04 for charcoal, one of the darkest substances. Deeply shadowed cavities can achieve an effective albedo approaching the zero of a black body, when seen from a distance, the ocean surface has a low albedo, as do most forests, whereas desert areas have some of the highest albedos among landforms. Most land areas are in a range of 0.1 to 0.4. The average albedo of Earth is about 0.3 and this is far higher than for the ocean primarily because of the contribution of clouds. Earths surface albedo is regularly estimated via Earth observation satellite sensors such as NASAs MODIS instruments on board the Terra, thereby, the BRDF allows to translate observations of reflectance into albedo. Earths average surface temperature due to its albedo and the effect is currently about 15 °C. If Earth were frozen entirely, the temperature of the planet would drop below −40 °C. If only the land masses became covered by glaciers, the mean temperature of the planet would drop to about 0 °C. In contrast, if the entire Earth was covered by water — a so-called aquaplanet — the average temperature on the planet would rise to almost 27 °C, hence, the actual albedo α can then be given as, α = α ¯ + D α ¯ ¯. Directional-hemispherical reflectance is sometimes referred to as black-sky albedo and bi-hemispherical reflectance as white-sky albedo and these terms are important because they allow the albedo to be calculated for any given illumination conditions from a knowledge of the intrinsic properties of the surface. The albedos of planets, satellites and asteroids can be used to infer much about their properties, the study of albedos, their dependence on wavelength, lighting angle, and variation in time comprises a major part of the astronomical field of photometry
24.
Temperature
–
A temperature is an objective comparative measurement of hot or cold. It is measured by a thermometer, several scales and units exist for measuring temperature, the most common being Celsius, Fahrenheit, and, especially in science, Kelvin. Absolute zero is denoted as 0 K on the Kelvin scale, −273.15 °C on the Celsius scale, the kinetic theory offers a valuable but limited account of the behavior of the materials of macroscopic bodies, especially of fluids. Temperature is important in all fields of science including physics, geology, chemistry, atmospheric sciences, medicine. The Celsius scale is used for temperature measurements in most of the world. Because of the 100 degree interval, it is called a centigrade scale.15, the United States commonly uses the Fahrenheit scale, on which water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F at sea-level atmospheric pressure. Many scientific measurements use the Kelvin temperature scale, named in honor of the Scottish physicist who first defined it and it is a thermodynamic or absolute temperature scale. Its zero point, 0K, is defined to coincide with the coldest physically-possible temperature and its degrees are defined through thermodynamics. The temperature of zero occurs at 0K = −273. 15°C. For historical reasons, the triple point temperature of water is fixed at 273.16 units of the measurement increment, Temperature is one of the principal quantities in the study of thermodynamics. There is a variety of kinds of temperature scale and it may be convenient to classify them as empirically and theoretically based. Empirical temperature scales are historically older, while theoretically based scales arose in the middle of the nineteenth century, empirically based temperature scales rely directly on measurements of simple physical properties of materials. For example, the length of a column of mercury, confined in a capillary tube, is dependent largely on temperature. Such scales are only within convenient ranges of temperature. For example, above the point of mercury, a mercury-in-glass thermometer is impracticable. A material is of no use as a thermometer near one of its phase-change temperatures, in spite of these restrictions, most generally used practical thermometers are of the empirically based kind. Especially, it was used for calorimetry, which contributed greatly to the discovery of thermodynamics, nevertheless, empirical thermometry has serious drawbacks when judged as a basis for theoretical physics. Theoretically based temperature scales are based directly on theoretical arguments, especially those of thermodynamics, kinetic theory and they rely on theoretical properties of idealized devices and materials
25.
Kelvin
–
The kelvin is a unit of measure for temperature based upon an absolute scale. It is one of the seven units in the International System of Units and is assigned the unit symbol K. The kelvin is defined as the fraction 1⁄273.16 of the temperature of the triple point of water. In other words, it is defined such that the point of water is exactly 273.16 K. The Kelvin scale is named after the Belfast-born, Glasgow University engineer and physicist William Lord Kelvin, unlike the degree Fahrenheit and degree Celsius, the kelvin is not referred to or typeset as a degree. The kelvin is the unit of temperature measurement in the physical sciences, but is often used in conjunction with the Celsius degree. The definition implies that absolute zero is equivalent to −273.15 °C, Kelvin calculated that absolute zero was equivalent to −273 °C on the air thermometers of the time. This absolute scale is known today as the Kelvin thermodynamic temperature scale, when spelled out or spoken, the unit is pluralised using the same grammatical rules as for other SI units such as the volt or ohm. When reference is made to the Kelvin scale, the word kelvin—which is normally a noun—functions adjectivally to modify the noun scale and is capitalized, as with most other SI unit symbols there is a space between the numeric value and the kelvin symbol. Before the 13th CGPM in 1967–1968, the unit kelvin was called a degree and it was distinguished from the other scales with either the adjective suffix Kelvin or with absolute and its symbol was °K. The latter term, which was the official name from 1948 until 1954, was ambiguous since it could also be interpreted as referring to the Rankine scale. Before the 13th CGPM, the form was degrees absolute. The 13th CGPM changed the name to simply kelvin. Its measured value was 7002273160280000000♠0.01028 °C with an uncertainty of 60 µK, the use of SI prefixed forms of the degree Celsius to express a temperature interval has not been widely adopted. In 2005 the CIPM embarked on a program to redefine the kelvin using a more experimentally rigorous methodology, the current definition as of 2016 is unsatisfactory for temperatures below 20 K and above 7003130000000000000♠1300 K. In particular, the committee proposed redefining the kelvin such that Boltzmanns constant takes the exact value 6977138065049999999♠1. 3806505×10−23 J/K, from a scientific point of view, this will link temperature to the rest of SI and result in a stable definition that is independent of any particular substance. From a practical point of view, the redefinition will pass unnoticed, the kelvin is often used in the measure of the colour temperature of light sources. Colour temperature is based upon the principle that a black body radiator emits light whose colour depends on the temperature of the radiator, black bodies with temperatures below about 7003400000000000000♠4000 K appear reddish, whereas those above about 7003750000000000000♠7500 K appear bluish
26.
S-type asteroid
–
S-type asteroids, or silicaceous asteroids, are of a stony composition, hence the name. Approximately 17% of asteroids are of type, making it the second most common after the C-type. S-types are moderately bright and consist mainly of iron- and magnesium-silicates and they are dominant in the inner asteroid belt within 2.2 AU, common in the central belt within about 3 AU, but become rare farther out. The largest is 15 Eunomia, with the next largest members by diameter being 3 Juno,29 Amphitrite,532 Herculina and 7 Iris. Their spectrum has a steep slope at wavelengths shorter than 0.7 µm. The 1 µm absorption is indicative of the presence of silicates, often there is also a broad but shallow absorption feature centered near 0.63 µm. The composition of asteroids is similar to a variety of stony meteorites which share similar spectral characteristics. This whole S assemblage of asteroids is spectrally quite distinct from the carbonaceous C-group, Asteroid spectral types L-type asteroid K-type asteroid X-type asteroid Bus, S. J. Binzel, R. P. Phase II of the Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopy Survey, A feature-based taxonomy
27.
Apparent magnitude
–
The apparent magnitude of a celestial object is a number that is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth. The brighter an object appears, the lower its magnitude value, the Sun, at apparent magnitude of −27, is the brightest object in the sky. It is adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere, furthermore, the magnitude scale is logarithmic, a difference of one in magnitude corresponds to a change in brightness by a factor of 5√100, or about 2.512. The measurement of apparent magnitudes or brightnesses of celestial objects is known as photometry, apparent magnitudes are used to quantify the brightness of sources at ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths. An apparent magnitude is measured in a specific passband corresponding to some photometric system such as the UBV system. In standard astronomical notation, an apparent magnitude in the V filter band would be denoted either as mV or often simply as V, the scale used to indicate magnitude originates in the Hellenistic practice of dividing stars visible to the naked eye into six magnitudes. The brightest stars in the sky were said to be of first magnitude, whereas the faintest were of sixth magnitude. Each grade of magnitude was considered twice the brightness of the following grade and this rather crude scale for the brightness of stars was popularized by Ptolemy in his Almagest, and is generally believed to have originated with Hipparchus. This implies that a star of magnitude m is 2.512 times as bright as a star of magnitude m +1 and this figure, the fifth root of 100, became known as Pogsons Ratio. The zero point of Pogsons scale was defined by assigning Polaris a magnitude of exactly 2. However, with the advent of infrared astronomy it was revealed that Vegas radiation includes an Infrared excess presumably due to a disk consisting of dust at warm temperatures. At shorter wavelengths, there is negligible emission from dust at these temperatures, however, in order to properly extend the magnitude scale further into the infrared, this peculiarity of Vega should not affect the definition of the magnitude scale. Therefore, the scale was extrapolated to all wavelengths on the basis of the black body radiation curve for an ideal stellar surface at 11000 K uncontaminated by circumstellar radiation. On this basis the spectral irradiance for the zero magnitude point, with the modern magnitude systems, brightness over a very wide range is specified according to the logarithmic definition detailed below, using this zero reference. In practice such apparent magnitudes do not exceed 30, astronomers have developed other photometric zeropoint systems as alternatives to the Vega system. The AB magnitude zeropoint is defined such that an objects AB, the dimmer an object appears, the higher the numerical value given to its apparent magnitude, with a difference of 5 magnitudes corresponding to a brightness factor of exactly 100. Since an increase of 5 magnitudes corresponds to a decrease in brightness by a factor of exactly 100, each magnitude increase implies a decrease in brightness by the factor 5√100 ≈2.512. Inverting the above formula, a magnitude difference m1 − m2 = Δm implies a brightness factor of F2 F1 =100 Δ m 5 =100.4 Δ m ≈2.512 Δ m
28.
Angular diameter
–
The angular diameter or apparent size is an angular measurement describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences it is called the angle and in optics it is the angular aperture. The angular diameter can alternatively be thought of as the angle through which an eye or camera must rotate to look from one side of an apparent circle to the opposite side, Angular radius equals half the angular diameter. When D ≫ d, we have δ ≈ d / D, for practical use, the distinction is only significant for spherical objects that are relatively close, since the small-angle approximation holds for x ≪1, arcsin x ≈ arctan x ≈ x. Estimates of angular diameter may be obtained by holding the hand at right angles to an extended arm. In astronomy the sizes of objects in the sky are given in terms of their angular diameter as seen from Earth. Since these angular diameters are typically small, it is common to present them in arcseconds, an arcsecond is 1/3600th of one degree, and a radian is 180/ π degrees, so one radian equals 3600*180/ π arcseconds, which is about 206265 arcseconds. Therefore, the diameter of an object with physical diameter d at a distance D, expressed in arcseconds, is given by. These objects have a diameter of one arcsecond, an object of diameter 725. The angular diameter of the Sun, from a distance of one light-year, is 0. 03″, the angular diameter 0. 03″ of the Sun given above is approximately the same as that of a person at a distance of the diameter of the Earth. Thus the angular diameter of the Sun is about 250,000 times that of Sirius, the angular diameter of the Sun is also about 250,000 times that of Alpha Centauri A. The angular diameter of the Sun is about the same as that of the Moon, even though Pluto is physically larger than Ceres, when viewed from Earth Ceres has a much larger apparent size. While angular sizes measured in degrees are useful for larger patches of sky, we need much finer units when talking about the size of galaxies. The Moons motion across the sky can be measured in size, approximately 15 degrees every hour. A one-mile-long line painted on the face of the Moon would appear to us to be about one arc-second in length, in astronomy, it is typically difficult to directly measure the distance to an object. But the object may have a physical size and a measurable angular diameter. In that case, the angular diameter formula can be inverted to yield the Angular diameter distance to distant objects as d ≡2 D tan . In non-Euclidean space, such as our universe, the angular diameter distance is only one of several definitions of distance
29.
Asteroid
–
Asteroids are minor planets, especially those of the inner Solar System. The larger ones have also been called planetoids and these terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not show the disc of a planet and was not observed to have the characteristics of an active comet. As minor planets in the outer Solar System were discovered and found to have volatile-based surfaces that resemble those of comets, in this article, the term asteroid refers to the minor planets of the inner Solar System including those co-orbital with Jupiter. There are millions of asteroids, many thought to be the remnants of planetesimals. The large majority of known asteroids orbit in the belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, or are co-orbital with Jupiter. However, other orbital families exist with significant populations, including the near-Earth objects, individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra, with the majority falling into three main groups, C-type, M-type, and S-type. These were named after and are identified with carbon-rich, metallic. The size of asteroids varies greatly, some reaching as much as 1000 km across, asteroids are differentiated from comets and meteoroids. In the case of comets, the difference is one of composition, while asteroids are composed of mineral and rock, comets are composed of dust. In addition, asteroids formed closer to the sun, preventing the development of the aforementioned cometary ice, the difference between asteroids and meteoroids is mainly one of size, meteoroids have a diameter of less than one meter, whereas asteroids have a diameter of greater than one meter. Finally, meteoroids can be composed of either cometary or asteroidal materials, only one asteroid,4 Vesta, which has a relatively reflective surface, is normally visible to the naked eye, and this only in very dark skies when it is favorably positioned. Rarely, small asteroids passing close to Earth may be visible to the eye for a short time. As of March 2016, the Minor Planet Center had data on more than 1.3 million objects in the inner and outer Solar System, the United Nations declared June 30 as International Asteroid Day to educate the public about asteroids. The date of International Asteroid Day commemorates the anniversary of the Tunguska asteroid impact over Siberia, the first asteroid to be discovered, Ceres, was found in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, and was originally considered to be a new planet. In the early half of the nineteenth century, the terms asteroid. Asteroid discovery methods have improved over the past two centuries. This task required that hand-drawn sky charts be prepared for all stars in the band down to an agreed-upon limit of faintness. On subsequent nights, the sky would be charted again and any moving object would, hopefully, the expected motion of the missing planet was about 30 seconds of arc per hour, readily discernible by observers
30.
15 Eunomia
–
15 Eunomia is a very large asteroid in the inner asteroid belt. It is the largest of the asteroids, and somewhere between the 8th-to-12th-largest main-belt asteroid overall. It is the largest Eunomian asteroid, and is estimated to contain 1% of the mass of the asteroid belt. Eunomia was discovered by Annibale de Gasparis on July 29,1851, and named after Eunomia, one of the Horae, as the largest S-type asteroid, Eunomia has attracted a moderate amount of scientific attention. It contains slightly over one percent of the mass of the asteroid belt. Eunomia appears to be an elongated but fairly regularly shaped body, with what appear to be four sides of differing curvature and its elongation led to the suggestion that Eunomia may be a binary object, but this has been refuted. It is a retrograde rotator with its pole pointing towards ecliptic coordinates = with a 10° uncertainty and this gives an axial tilt of about 165°. Like other true members of the family, its surface is composed of silicates and some nickel-iron, calcium-rich pyroxenes and olivine, along with nickel-iron metal, have been detected on Eunomias surface. The range of compositions of the remaining Eunomian asteroids, formed by a collision of the parent body, is large enough to encompass all the surface variations on Eunomia itself. Interestingly, the majority of smaller Eunomian asteroids are more rich than Eunomias surface. However, there is uncertainty over Eunomias internal structure and relationship to the parent body, whatever the case in this respect, it appears that any metallic core region, if present, has not been exposed. These indicate that the largest fragment has about 70% of the mass of the parent body, the orbit of 15 Eunomia places it in a 7,16 mean-motion resonance with the planet Mars. Eunomia is used by the Minor Planet Center to calculate perturbations, the computed Lyapunov time for this asteroid is 25,000 years, indicating that it occupies a chaotic orbit that will change randomly over time because of gravitational perturbations of the planets. Eunomia has been observed occulting stars three times and it has a mean opposition magnitude of +8.5, about equal to the mean brightness of Titan, and can reach +7.9 at a near perihelion opposition. Asteroid 2000 CZ12 passed about 0.00037 AU from Eunomia on March 4,2002, one of the hidden levels in the videogame Descent is an expedition to a secret mine station on asteroid Eunomia. Eunomia is mentioned as one of the five largest asteroids in the science-fiction novel Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C, one episode shows the study of gravitational waves at the expense of a chunk of Eunomia the size of Everest. 15 Eunomia is the inspiration for the look of the ships in Arrival. Former classification of planets shape model deduced from lightcurve, including composition variations across the surface JPL Ephemeris Elements,15 Eunomia at the JPL Small-Body Database Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters
31.
Planet
–
The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, astrology, science, mythology, and religion. Several planets in the Solar System can be seen with the naked eye and these were regarded by many early cultures as divine, or as emissaries of deities. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception of the planets changed, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition is controversial because it excludes many objects of mass based on where or what they orbit. The planets were thought by Ptolemy to orbit Earth in deferent, at about the same time, by careful analysis of pre-telescopic observation data collected by Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler found the planets orbits were not circular but elliptical. As observational tools improved, astronomers saw that, like Earth, the planets rotated around tilted axes, and some shared such features as ice caps and seasons. Since the dawn of the Space Age, close observation by space probes has found that Earth and the planets share characteristics such as volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics. Planets are generally divided into two types, large low-density giant planets, and smaller rocky terrestrials. Under IAU definitions, there are eight planets in the Solar System, in order of increasing distance from the Sun, they are the four terrestrials, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, then the four giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the planets are orbited by one or more natural satellites, several thousands of planets around other stars have been discovered in the Milky Way. e. in the habitable zone. On December 20,2011, the Kepler Space Telescope team reported the discovery of the first Earth-sized extrasolar planets, Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, orbiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-20. A2012 study, analyzing gravitational microlensing data, estimates an average of at least 1.6 bound planets for every star in the Milky Way, around one in five Sun-like stars is thought to have an Earth-sized planet in its habitable zone. The idea of planets has evolved over its history, from the lights of antiquity to the earthly objects of the scientific age. The concept has expanded to include not only in the Solar System. The ambiguities inherent in defining planets have led to much scientific controversy, the five classical planets, being visible to the naked eye, have been known since ancient times and have had a significant impact on mythology, religious cosmology, and ancient astronomy. In ancient times, astronomers noted how certain lights moved across the sky, as opposed to the fixed stars, ancient Greeks called these lights πλάνητες ἀστέρες or simply πλανῆται, from which todays word planet was derived. In ancient Greece, China, Babylon, and indeed all pre-modern civilizations, it was almost universally believed that Earth was the center of the Universe and that all the planets circled Earth. The first civilization known to have a theory of the planets were the Babylonians
32.
Ceres (dwarf planet)
–
Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Its diameter is approximately 945 kilometers, making it the largest of the planets within the orbit of Neptune. The 33rd-largest known body in the Solar System, it is the dwarf planet within the orbit of Neptune. Composed of rock and ice, Ceres is estimated to approximately one third of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. Ceres is the object in the asteroid belt known to be rounded by its own gravity. From Earth, the apparent magnitude of Ceres ranges from 6.7 to 9.3, Ceres was the first asteroid discovered, by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo on 1 January 1801. It was originally considered a planet, but was reclassified as an asteroid in the 1850s after many other objects in similar orbits were discovered. Ceres appears to be differentiated into a core and icy mantle. The surface is probably a mixture of ice and various hydrated minerals such as carbonates. In January 2014, emissions of water vapor were detected from several regions of Ceres and this was unexpected, because large bodies in the asteroid belt typically do not emit vapor, a hallmark of comets. The robotic NASA spacecraft Dawn entered orbit around Ceres on 6 March 2015, pictures with a resolution previously unattained were taken during imaging sessions starting in January 2015 as Dawn approached Ceres, showing a cratered surface. Two distinct bright spots inside a crater were seen in a 19 February 2015 image, on 11 May 2015, NASA released a higher-resolution image showing that, instead of one or two spots, there are actually several. In October 2015, NASA released a true portrait of Ceres made by Dawn. In February 2017, organics were reported to have been detected on Ceres in Ernutet crater, Johann Elert Bode, in 1772, first suggested that an undiscovered planet could exist between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Kepler had already noticed the gap between Mars and Jupiter in 1596, the pattern predicted that the missing planet ought to have an orbit with a semi-major axis near 2.8 astronomical units. Although they did not discover Ceres, they found several large asteroids. One of the selected for the search was Giuseppe Piazzi. Before receiving his invitation to join the group, Piazzi discovered Ceres on 1 January 1801 and he was searching for the 87th of the Catalogue of the Zodiacal stars of Mr la Caille, but found that it was preceded by another
).
