... ARTICLE: The Adventurous Search For The Astronomical Unit . ... Kepler himself had suggested to use the rare occasions of Venus transiting (crossing) the solar disk to measure our distance to the planet. ... Due to the orbital inclination of Venus against the ecliptic of 3.5°, a Venus transit is so rare that it happens only at intervals of 121.5 years, 8 years, 105.5 years, 8 years and so on. ... Crabtree witnessing the transit of Venus 1639 . ... Transits of Venus - The Quest for the Solar Parallax...

. 31 декабря 2009 . Планета с массой Сатурна рядом со звездой красным карликом Gliese 649 . 14 декабря Калифорнийская группа объявила об открытии планеты с массой, близкой к массе Сатурна, у сравнительно близкого красного карлика Gliese 649 . Открытие было сделано методом измерения лучевых скоростей родительской звезды. Это седьмая планета-гигант рядом со звездой красным карликом, известная на данный момент. Авторы открытия отмечают, что частота встречаемости планет с массой больше 0.3 масс Юпитера ближе

... It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar -- that I call an achievement. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg / . ... There are people who possess not so much genius as a certain talent for perceiving the desires of the century, or even of the decade, before it has done so itself. ... Георг Кристоф Лихтенберг , Выдающийся немецкий ученый и публицист . ...

STARTEST IMAGES GALLERY . Type: Maksutov Cassegrain . ... Inside Focus . ... Outside Focus . ... These is are the startest images of two alike 6"F/10 Maksutov Cassegrain’s. The central obstruction on these images is slightly larger than in the reality. ... Another rather easy done simulation for the second image from the left in the second table with images. ... Also the middle-ring is brighter in the simulation according to the PSF’s , this is however not so clear when you look at the images. ...