What do planets appear as when viewed through a telescope?
How could a planet give an optical illusion?
would you weigh more on Jupiter or Earth?
2006-10-29 12:26:31 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
1. Depends on the resolution of the telescope. On really efficient models you can make out varying colorations on each of the planets.
2. Like Retrograde Motion? Mars appears to be moving in one direction across the night sky, and people are observing, but suddenly it skips backwards a little, shortly resuming the original direction. This is called apparent retrograde motion. Earth is simply passing by Mars in orbit, it isn't really leaping around. This description is a bit simplistic, go here for more details. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_motion
3. Yup. Weight is the amount of gravitational force acting upon an object, proportional the masses of objects, and since Jupiter has alot more mass than the Earth it has alot more gravitational force. I weigh 160 lbs. on Earth. Because of Jupiter's greater mass, I would weigh in at 405 lbs. If you want to figure out your weight on other worlds, go to this website and plug it in!
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html
Hope I helped!
2006-10-29 13:51:37 · answer #1 · answered by minstrel_of_munificence 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What the planets would appear like when view through a telescope depends on many factors; the size and quality of the telescope, the distance to the particular planet, and of course the weather conditions that you're trying to look through with that telescope.
The most common optical illusion when viewing planets is cause by refraction from the earth atmosphere.
Jupiter's gravity is many many times that of the gravity on the earth.
2006-10-29 21:15:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends upon which planet you are looking at. If you are looking at say Mars, it will appear a little bigger than a star and red. With many telescope you should be able to see the ice caps. If you look at Saturn, you should be able to see its rings and some cloud layers. If you are using a refractor there could be a ring of light around the planet caused by the lens. You would weigh more on Jupiter because Jupiter is hundreds of times more massive than Earth.
2006-10-29 21:02:49 · answer #3 · answered by bldudas 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. In a good telescope (I have one) the planets can appear beautiful, especially Jupiter with it's moon and Saturn with it's rings. Venus has phases like the moon and Mars has surface details and the ice caps. As far as optical illusions, I have seen Saturn occulted by the Moon (the Moon passed in front of Saturn some years ago) and by Venus in the daytime (same time as the Waco Texas fire). It made the Moon look huge. Yes, on Jupiter you would weigh more due to the higher gravity.
2006-10-29 20:29:50 · answer #4 · answered by Cirric 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1- Depending on the size of the telescope you might resolve geographical features.
2- N/A
3- Jupiter
2006-10-29 20:31:18 · answer #5 · answered by Manny L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I. It depends on what telescope you get.
2. I heard that the air pressure on Venus is so great, that it would appear that you are in a bowl, so I guess it would.
3. Yes you would.
2006-10-29 20:35:00 · answer #6 · answered by Elwin Coldiron 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-10-29 20:27:47 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋