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 Mike Harvey's online
sky charts.
A planetarium program 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.
- Notes:
- Never look directly at the Sun!
- Those with good eyes (especially children) and
dark skies
may be able to see a few of the objects below, too.
- Does the Earth really count? Only the Apollo astronauts
have ever seen the Earth
from far enough away to perceive it as a globe.
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).
Name | Date | Vo | Discoverer |
Ganymede | 1610 | 4.6 | Galileo Galilei |
Io | 1610 | 5.0 | Galileo Galilei |
Europa | 1610 | 5.3 | Galileo Galilei |
Uranus | 1781 | 5.5 | William Herschel |
Callisto | 1610 | 5.6 | Galileo Galilei |
Neptune | 1846 | 7.8 | Johann Gotfried Galle |
Titan | 1655 | 8.3 | Christiaan 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.
Name | Date | Vo | Discoverer |
Rhea | 1672 | 9.7 | Giovanni Domenico Cassini |
Tethys | 1684 | 10.2 | Giovanni Domenico Cassini |
Iapetus | 1671 | 10.2 | Giovanni Domenico Cassini |
Dione | 1684 | 10.4 | Giovanni Domenico Cassini |
Phobos | 1877 | 11.3 | Asaph Hall |
Enceladus | 1789 | 11.7 | William Herschel |
Deimos | 1877 | 12.4 | Asaph Hall |
Mimas | 1789 | 12.9 | William Herschel |
Triton | 1846 | 13.5 | William Lassell |
Pluto | 1930 | 13.6 | Clyde W. Tombaugh |
Titania | 1787 | 13.7 | William Herschel |
Oberon | 1787 | 13.9 | William Herschel |
Amalthea | 1892 | 14.1 | Edward Emerson Barnard |
Ariel | 1851 | 14.2 | William Lassell |
Hyperion | 1848 | 14.2 | William Cranch Bond |
Janus | 1966 | 14.5 | Audouin Dollfus |
Umbriel | 1851 | 14.8 | William Lassell |
Himalia | 1904 | 14.8 | C. Perrine |
-
Notes:
- Phobos and Deimos are harder to see than it might appear since they are so close
to Mars.
- The same holds for Amalthea and Janus.
- Iapetus's brightness varies greatly, from 10.2 to 11.9 or less.
- The order of discovery
may be a better guide to what is easy to see than magnitude.
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)
- Venus at noon (Mel Bartels)
8k jpg
- 2 images of Mars (Dean W. Armstrong)
html
- Jupiter (Dean W. Armstrong)
15k jpg
- Saturn (D. Armstrong)
9k jpg
- Jupiter, Moon, Saturn, Eric Lengyel
- Moon, Sunspot, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Ryerson Astronomical Society
- Jupiter, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mel Bartels
- Mars, Saturn, comets, David Hanon
- list of amateur images on the Net by Richard Bright
... Others
... See
... Spacecraft
...
Bill Arnett; last updated:
1996 March 25