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704 Interamnia
704 Interamnia is a large F-type asteroid. With a mean diameter of around 330 kilometres, it is the fifth-largest asteroid, after Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea. Its mean distance from the Sun is 3.067 ( AU). It was discovered on 2 October 1910 by Vincenzo Cerulli, and named after the Latin name for Teramo, Italy, where Cerulli worked. Its mass is probably between fifth and tenth highest in the asteroid belt, with a mass estimated to be 1.2% of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. Observations by the Very Large Telescope's SPHERE imager in 2017–2019, combined with occultation results, indicate that the shape of Interamnia may be consistent with hydrostatic equilibrium for a body of its density with a rotational period of 7.6 hours. (Its current period is 8.7 hours.) This suggests that Interamnia may have formed as an equilibrium body, and that impacts changed its rotational period after it fully solidified. Characteristics Although Interamnia is the largest asteroid afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincenzo Cerulli
Vincenzo Cerulli (20 April 1859 – 30 May 1927) was an Italian astronomer and founder of the Collurania-Teramo Observatory in Teramo, central Italy, where he was born. He earned a degree in physics from the Sapienza University of Rome in 1881, and continued his studies at the University of Berlin. Cerulli compiled a star catalog with Elia Millosevich. He was the astronomer at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1890, he founded his observatory, which he named "Collurania", equipping it with a 40 cm Cooke refractor, which he had purchased for £2000 (£210,652 at the 2020 equivalent) from the son of British Astronomer, James Wigglesworth (born, Wibsey 1815) and which had been situated in Scarborough, before being dismantled and moved to Teramo. He also observed Mars and developed the theory that the Martian canals were not real but an optical illusion, a theory that was later confirmed. He discovered one asteroid, 704 Interamnia, which is named after the Latin name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VLT-SPHERE
Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (VLT-SPHERE) is an adaptive optics system and coronagraphic facility at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). It provides direct imaging as well as spectroscopic and polarimetric characterization of exoplanet systems. The instrument operates in the visible and near infrared, achieving, albeit over a limited field of view, superior image quality and contrast for bright targets. Results from SPHERE complement those from other planet finder projects which include HARPS, CoRoT, and the Kepler Mission. The instrument was installed on Unit Telescope "Melipal" (UT3) and achieved first light in June, 2014. At the time of installation, it was the latest of a series of second generation VLT-instruments such as X-shooter, KMOS and MUSE. Science goals Direct imaging of exoplanets is extremely challenging: # The brightness contrast between the planet and its host star typically ranges from 10−6 for hot young giant planets emitting sign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Solar System Objects By Size
This article includes a list of the most massive known objects of the Solar System and partial lists of smaller objects by observed mean radius. These lists can be sorted according to an object's radius and mass and, for the most massive objects, volume, density, and surface gravity, if these values are available. These lists contain the Sun, the planets, dwarf planets, many of the larger small Solar System body, small Solar System bodies (which includes the asteroids), all named natural satellites, and a number of smaller objects of historical or scientific interest, such as comets and near-Earth objects. Many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) have been discovered; in many cases their positions in this list are approximate, as there is frequently a large uncertainty in their estimated diameters due to their distance from Earth. Solar System objects more massive than 1021 kilograms are known or expected to be approximately spherical. Astronomical bodies relax into rounded shapes (sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
16 Psyche
16 Psyche () is a large M-type asteroid discovered by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis on 17 March 1852 and named after the Greek goddess Psyche. The prefix "16" signifies that it was the sixteenth minor planet in order of discovery. It is the largest and most massive of the M-type asteroids, and one of the dozen most massive asteroids. It has a mean diameter of approximately and contains about one percent of the mass of the asteroid belt. Historically, it was hypothesized to be the exposed core of a protoplanet, but numerous recent studies have all but ruled that out. Psyche will be explored by the spacecraft of the same name, with launch planned in 2023 and arrival in 2029. Symbol Astronomers created icon-like symbols for the first fifteen asteroids to be discovered, as a type of shorthand notation consistent with older notation for the classical planets. Psyche was given an iconic symbol, as were a few other asteroids discovered after 16 Psyche. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
29 Amphitrite
Amphitrite (minor planet designation: 29 Amphitrite) is one of the largest S-type asteroids, approximately in diameter, and probably fifth largest after Eunomia, Juno, Iris and Herculina. Discovery Amphitrite was discovered by Albert Marth on 1 March 1854, at the private South Villa Observatory, in Regent's Park, London. It was Marth's only asteroid discovery. Its name was chosen by George Bishop, the owner of the observatory, who named it after Amphitrite, a sea goddess in Greek mythology. Characteristics Amphitrite's orbit is less eccentric and inclined than those of its larger cousins; indeed, it is the most circular of any asteroid discovered up to that point. As a consequence, it never becomes as bright as Iris or Hebe, especially as it is much further from the Sun than those asteroids. It can reach magnitudes of around +8.6 at a favorable opposition, but usually is around the binocular limit of +9.5. In 2007, James Baer and Steven R. Chesley estimated Amphitrite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
19 Fortuna
Fortuna (minor planet designation: 19 Fortuna) is one of the largest main-belt asteroids. It has a composition similar to 1 Ceres: a darkly colored surface that is heavily space-weathered with the composition of primitive organic compounds, including tholins. Fortuna is 225 km in diameter and has one of the darkest known geometric albedos for an asteroid over 150 km in diameter. Its albedo has been measured at 0.028 and 0.037. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration. The Hubble Space Telescope observed Fortuna in 1993. It was resolved with an apparent diameter of 0.20 arcseconds (4.5 pixels in the Planetary Camera) and its shape was found to be nearly spherical. Satellites were searched for but none were detected. Stellar occultations by Fortuna have been observed several times. Fortuna has been studied by radar. It was discovered by J. R. Hind on August 22, 1852, and named after Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck. Fortuna has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apsis
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any elliptic orbit. The name for each apsis is created from the prefixes ''ap-'', ''apo-'' (), or ''peri-'' (), each referring to the farthest and closest point to the primary body the affixing necessary suffix that describes the primary body in the orbit. In this case, the suffix for Earth is ''-gee'', so the apsides' names are ''apogee'' and ''perigee''. For the Sun, its suffix is ''-helion'', so the names are ''aphelion'' and ''perihelion''. According to Newton's laws of motion, all periodic orbits are ellipses. The barycenter of the two bodies may lie well within the bigger body—e.g., the Earth–Moon barycenter is about 75% of the way from Earth's center to its surface. If, compared to the larger mass, the smaller mass is negligible (e.g., f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apparent Magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's light caused by interstellar dust along the line of sight to the observer. The word ''magnitude'' in astronomy, unless stated otherwise, usually refers to a celestial object's apparent magnitude. The magnitude scale dates back to the ancient Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, whose star catalog listed stars from 1st magnitude (brightest) to 6th magnitude (dimmest). The modern scale was mathematically defined in a way to closely match this historical system. The scale is reverse logarithmic: the brighter an object is, the lower its magnitude number. A difference of 1.0 in magnitude corresponds to a brightness ratio of \sqrt /math>, or about 2.512. For example, a star of magnitude 2.0 is 2.512 times as bright as a star of magnitude 3.0, 6. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opposition (astronomy And Astrology)
In positional astronomy, two astronomical objects are said to be in opposition when they are on opposite sides of the celestial sphere, as observed from a given body (usually Earth). A planet (or asteroid or comet) is said to be "in opposition" or "at opposition" when it is in opposition to the Sun. Because most orbits in the Solar System are nearly coplanar to the ecliptic, this occurs when the Sun, Earth, and the body are configured in an approximately straight line, or syzygy; that is, Earth and the body are in the same direction as seen from the Sun. Opposition occurs only for superior planets (see the diagram). The instant of opposition is defined as that when the apparent geocentric celestial longitude of the body differs by 180° from the apparent geocentric longitude of the Sun. At that time, a body is: * in apparent retrograde motion * visible almost all night – rising around sunset, culminating around midnight, and setting around sunrise * at the point in its o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binoculars
Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held using both hands, although sizes vary widely from opera glasses to large pedestal-mounted military models. Unlike a (monocular) telescope, binoculars give users a three-dimensional image: each eyepiece presents a slightly different image to each of the viewer's eyes and the parallax allows the visual cortex to generate an impression of depth. Optical designs Galilean Almost from the invention of the telescope in the 17th century the advantages of mounting two of them side by side for binocular vision seems to have been explored. Most early binoculars used Galilean optics; that is, they used a convex objective and a concave eyepiece lens. The Galilean design has the advantage of presenting an erect image but has a narrow field of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axial Tilt
In astronomy, axial tilt, also known as obliquity, is the angle between an object's rotational axis and its orbital axis, which is the line perpendicular to its orbital plane; equivalently, it is the angle between its equatorial plane and orbital plane. It differs from orbital inclination. At an obliquity of 0 degrees, the two axes point in the same direction; that is, the rotational axis is perpendicular to the orbital plane. The rotational axis of Earth, for example, is the imaginary line that passes through both the North Pole and South Pole, whereas the Earth's orbital axis is the line perpendicular to the imaginary plane through which the Earth moves as it revolves around the Sun; the Earth's obliquity or axial tilt is the angle between these two lines. Earth's obliquity oscillates between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees on a 41,000-year cycle. Based on a continuously updated formula (here Laskar, 1986, though since 2006 the IMCCE and the IAU recommend the P03 model), Earth's mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Curve
In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular frequency interval or band. Light curves can be periodic, as in the case of eclipsing binaries, Cepheid variables, other periodic variables, and transiting extrasolar planets, or aperiodic, like the light curve of a nova, a cataclysmic variable star, a supernova or a microlensing event or binary as observed during occultation events. The study of the light curve, together with other observations, can yield considerable information about the physical process that produces it or constrain the physical theories about it. Variable stars Graphs of the apparent magnitude of a variable star over time are commonly used to visualise and analyse their behaviour. Although the categorisation of variable star types is increasingly done from their s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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