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Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel
Explanation:
Viewed from Earth, the
solar system's planets do a cosmic
dance that is hard to appreciate on any single night.
But consider this well planned animated sequence
combining 23 pictures taken
at approximately 2 week intervals from June 2000 through May 2001.
It reveals the graceful looping or
retrograde motion
of bright
wanderers Jupiter (leftmost) and Saturn.
Loitering among the background stars are the familiar
Pleiades (above right) and V-shaped Hyades
(below left) star clusters.
The planets didn't actually
loop by reversing the direction
of their orbits, though.
Their apparent retrograde motion is a reflection of
the motion
of the Earth itself.
Retrograde motion
can be seen each time Earth overtakes and laps
planets orbiting farther from the Sun, Earth moving more rapidly
through its own relatively close-in orbit.
Astronomer Tunc Tezel captured Jupiter and Saturn's "paired"
retrograde loop in this remarkable series made after the
close alignment of these
gas giants in May 2000.
The next opportunity to see these two planets dance such a
pas de deux will be in the year 2020.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: retrograde motion - Saturn - Jupiter
Publications with words: retrograde motion - Saturn - Jupiter
See also: