Starship Asterisk*

[quote=BDanielMayfield post_id=300386 time=1584393294 user_id=139536]

In our system no moons have rings, but what about other systems? [/quote]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Rhea

Today's apod made me wonder about the possible existence of exomoons with rings. In our system no moons have rings, but what about other systems?

Bruce

[quote="Cousin Ricky" post_id=300374 time=1584368652 user_id=141376]
[quote="APOD Robot" post_id=300365 time=1584331564 user_id=128559]
In the foreground, lights from small [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala]Guatemala[/url]n towns are visible behind the huge [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL-zpztktfA]volcano Pacaya[/url].
[/quote]

Not as huge as whatever mountain the camera was sitting on.
[/quote]

That makes sense. I'm not from around there, but armed with Google and Wikipedia ...

The rising, pre-dawn, crescent moon would be in the East. So the lights in the background are some of the small towns (I think they're small) east of Pacaya. The peak elevation of Pacaya is 2552m . Then, mostly west of Pacaya is the much taller Volcan de Agua (peak elevation 3760m). The image might have been shot from somewhere on that massive mountain ... Both volcanic cones look truly massive in local images, but yes, Volcan de Agua is the bigger brother for sure. But Pacaya is much more active than Agua, of late.

[quote=TANSTAAFL post_id=300378 time=1584373418 user_id=145066]

Would someone who speaks the language of physics calculate how close Saturn would have to be to appear the same size as the Moon in our sky?
[/quote]
[list]The Moon is about 32 arcminutes wide
Saturn is about 1/3 arcminute wide[/list]

Ergo, Saturn would need to be about 100 times closer than it is.

Great picture! Would someone who speaks the language of physics calculate how close Saturn would have to be to appear the same size as the Moon in our sky? TIA!

Certainly an eye-catching picture. Before I read the explanation I thought that it was the moon photoshopped into an edge-on galaxy.

[float=left][img3="A Moon Dressed Like Saturn.
Image Credit & Copyright: Francisco Sojuel"]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2003/SaturnMoon_Sojuel_960.jpg[/img3][/float][float=right][attachment=0]Black hole the size of the Milky Way.png[/attachment][c][size=85]“As Big as a Galaxy?”
–The Search for Largest Black Hole in the Universe. Source:
https://dailygalaxy.com/2019/08/milky-way-sized-astronomers-search-for-largest-black-hole-in-the-universe/[/size][/c][/float]



















[b][size=200][color=#FF0000]B[/color][color=#FF8000]u[/color][color=#BF4000]s[/color][color=#BF8000]t[/color][color=#FFBF00]e[/color][color=#FF8000]d[/color][color=#FF0000]![/color][/size][/b] :wink:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200316.html

Neat Picture! 🪐

[quote="APOD Robot" post_id=300365 time=1584331564 user_id=128559]
In the foreground, lights from small [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala]Guatemala[/url]n towns are visible behind the huge [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL-zpztktfA]volcano Pacaya[/url].
[/quote]

Not as huge as whatever mountain the camera was sitting on.

It looks amazing.

Ann

Stunning... Ethereal...

Um... isn't that where Blofeld's new Mountain Lair is????

:---[===] *

Wow!

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200316.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_200316.jpg[/img] [size=150]A Moon Dressed Like Saturn[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] Why does Saturn appear so big? It doesn't -- what is pictured are foreground clouds on [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/overview/]Earth[/url] crossing in front of the [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/]Moon[/url]. The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of its surface visible by reflected [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthlight_(astronomy)]Earthlight[/url] known as [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190504.html]ashen glow[/url]. The [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/by-the-numbers/]Sun[/url] directly illuminates the brightly lit [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180912.html]lunar crescent[/url] from the bottom, which means that the Sun must be below the horizon and so the image was taken before sunrise. This [url=https://images.boredomfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2018/10/double-take-photos-5.jpg]double take[/url]-inducing picture was captured on 2019 December 24, two days before the Moon slid in front of the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191028.html]Sun[/url] to create a [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191228.html]solar eclipse[/url]. In the foreground, lights from small [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala]Guatemala[/url]n towns are visible behind the huge [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL-zpztktfA]volcano Pacaya[/url].


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