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Seeing the Solar System

Seeing the Solar System


   You don't need your own Voyager to see the solar system. You can see much of it from your own back yard. Of course, you don't see the fantastic closeup views that NASA gets, but you can see it first-hand with your own eyes. If you enjoyed The Nine Planets, go outside and take a look at what you just read about. You'll be amazed how rewarding such a simple thing it can be.

   To find the planets, you'll need to know where to look. Refer to Sky & Telescope or a similar magazine for up to date positions or check one of the several Web sites that show planetary positions. A planetarium program (such as Starry Night for the Mac or SkyMap for PCs) can also be useful, especially for the moons.

   The tables below are ordered by visual magnitude ("Vo"; bigger numbers are dimmer); this is the maximum brightness that the object attains (approximately when it is closest to Earth). "Date" is the date of discovery.

Unaided Eye

You can see 99.99% of the mass of the solar system with no instruments whatsoever.

NameVo
Sun-27
Earth
Moon-13
Venus-4.4
Jupiter-2.7
Mars-2.0
Mercury-1.9
Saturn+0.7
Notes:

Binoculars

A simple pair of binoculars is by far the most cost-effective optical aid available. For $200 you can get a far better optical instrument than Galileo or Newton had. You will find it much easier if you arrange a stable support for your binoculars (such as a tripod).

NameDateVoDiscoverer
Ganymede16104.6Galileo Galilei
Io16105.0Galileo Galilei
Europa16105.3Galileo Galilei
Uranus17815.5William Herschel
Callisto16105.6Galileo Galilei
Neptune18467.8Johann Gotfried Galle
Titan16558.3Christiaan Huygens

Amateur Telescopes

If you're really serious a modest telescope will reveal many more moons. The first few below are pretty easy, the last few are considerably more difficult. Good dark skies are essential.

NameDateVoDiscoverer
Rhea16729.7Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Tethys168410.2Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Iapetus167110.2Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Dione168410.4Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Phobos187711.3Asaph Hall
Enceladus178911.7William Herschel
Deimos187712.4Asaph Hall
Mimas178912.9William Herschel
Triton184613.5William Lassell
Pluto193013.6Clyde W. Tombaugh
Titania178713.7William Herschel
Oberon178713.9William Herschel
Amalthea189214.1Edward Emerson Barnard
Ariel185114.2William Lassell
Hyperion184814.2William Cranch Bond
Janus196614.5Audouin Dollfus
Umbriel185114.8William Lassell
Himalia190414.8C. Perrine
Notes:

Other objects

   Of course, the solar system has more than just planets and moons. Every year there are comets that can be seen with small telescopes and usually one or two that can be seen with binoculars. Occasionally there are naked-eye comets; there will be at least one in 1996 (Hyakutake) and another (Hale-Bopp) in 1997.

   Its easy to see a few of the brighter asteroids with binoculars. Several hundred can be seen with small telescopes.

   If you're out at night under a clear sky, you are pretty likely to see a meteor. You may see dozens of meteors if you catch one of the regular meteor showers.

   You can even see the interplanetary medium if you're close enough to the poles to see an aurora or if you see the zodical light or the gegenschein.

   You can also see the stars 51 Pegasi, 70 Virginis and 47 Ursae Majoris which probably have their own planets, though of course, you can't see the planets themselves.

Pictures

(taken with amateur telescopes)
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Bill Arnett; last updated: 1999 Apr 27