Observing time for specific investigations is precious and limited. Observatories) tend to be pointed at small areas for short periods because Probes (and for that matter of Hubble and professional Earth-bound To notice big things happening on the planets. Might think that, given all the probes out there, that NASA would be the first Wield left by Shoemaker-Levy on Jupiter with my old C8.Īgain, a view of Saturn on a fine night through a big scope is just Something really dramatic happens, like the impact ofĪ comet into Jupiter which has happened twice in the last few decades and leftĭark marks visible with even a small telescope: I vividly recall seeing the New white spot (the original was found by an amateur – Will Hay). More stable, but the rings change angle and you might be lucky enough to see a Position, occult and show shadow transits. Has frequent changes in its cloud belts and spots, whilst its moons change Mars periodically suffers globalĭust storms which blot out all surface detail. The ice caps grow and shrink with the seasons. Mars hasĬlouds and dust storms and the albedo marking show subtle variations Whilst the planets change in a way stars and deep sky objects do not. It is a constant challenge to pick out and perhaps sketch planetary detail, Then someone a few years imaged flashes from meteorite impacts… Unchanging reporters of “Transient Lunar Phenomena” were regarded as cranks. People used to think the Moon was static and Moon has an endless array of interesting detail and is a whole other world ofĪnd rays to explore. In fact, the Moon and planets make fascinating subjects for both the Makes me laugh because it is an attitude hangover from the middle of lastĬentury when planetary astronomy was making no progress and was deeply out ofįashion. To some this is the hallmark of a newbie, which always Main (though certainly not only) interest in Astronomy is and always has been Astro Physics 130 EDT – an absolute planetary classic.
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