It’s been hard not to notice the orange moon becoming fuller. Mainly because it’s all you’re practically able to see in our hazy, smoky skies. It’s also been hard not to notice a bright “star” in the south sky. This bright star is actually Jupiter. Sunday, when the moon is full, it, Jupiter and Saturn will line up, according to Alamanac.com. Perhaps you might recall that at the beginning of August 2020, the same trio lined up but not while the moon was full.
Perhaps you might also recall that August’s full moon is traditionally called the Sturgeon Moon because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this part of summer. This name came from the Algonquin people, Indigenous people of Eastern Canada. Other Native American tribes have other names, such as the Nez Perce, Indigenous people who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest, called it the Summertime Moon. While the Cheyenne, Native American people, named it The Moon When The Cherries Are Ripe. Other names it also has are Full Green Corn Moon, Wheat Cut Moon, Moon When All Things Ripen and Blueberry Moon. All signifying when certain crops were ready for harvest.
According to NASA, Jupiter is the fifth planet from our sun and is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system — more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined. Jupiter's stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that’s been raging for hundreds of years. Jupiter is surrounded by dozens of moons; 79 to be exact. Jupiter also has several rings but, unlike the famous rings of Saturn, Jupiter’s rings are very faint and made of dust, not ice.
Some other notable facts about Jupiter are its four largest moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Being the biggest planet, its name is from the king of the ancient Roman gods. Despite its size, Jupiter has the shortest day of any other planet; it only takes about 10 hours for a complete rotation. As the sun, Jupiter is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter contains the largest ocean in the solar system, an ocean of liquid hydrogen.
Saturn is the sixth planet from our sun and the second largest planet in our solar system. Adorned with a dazzling system of icy rings, Saturn is unique among the planets. It is not the only planet to have rings, but none are as spectacular or as complex as Saturn's. As Jupiter, Saturn is a massive ball of gas made mostly of hydrogen and helium. More than 60 moons also surround it. It is the farthest planet from our own. It takes sunlight 80 minutes to travel from the sun to Saturn while it only takes average of eight minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the sun to the Earth. Saturn has been known since ancient times. It’s named for the Roman god of agriculture and wealth, who was also the father of Jupiter.
According to Earthsky.org, unlike the stars, which shine by their own light, Jupiter and Saturn shine by reflecting the light of the sun. There are two reasons for Jupiter and Saturn’s brilliance. First of all, these planets are huge. Secondly, they have a high albedo or reflectivity. Jupiter reflects about 52% of the incoming sunlight, while Saturn reflects about 47%. In contrast, our moon only reflects about 12 percent of the sunlight. In addition, the tilt of Saturn’s rings has a great impact on its overall brightness. Saturn’s brilliance also depends on the tilt of its majestic rings. Saturn appears brightest when the rings are inclined at its maximum toward Earth and dimmest when the rings appear edge-on or at 0-degrees.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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