The Sky Guy: New discovery ups tally of Jupiter's moons to 79 Subscribe TodayLog In Subscribed, but don't have a login? Activate you...
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Activate your digital access.The Sky Guy: New discovery ups tally of Jupiter's moons to 79When I do sidewalk astronomy and Jupiter is visible, you can usually see Jupiter's four Galilean moons. Any small telescope and even a good pair of binoculars will resolve them. A lot of people will ask me: âHow many moons does Jupiter have?â I used to reply 67 but now I have to say 79.
Recently, scientists looking for planets far out in the solar system were observing objects visually close to Jupiter. A press release by the team led by Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution of Science explained:
âJupiter just happened to be in the sky near the search fields where we were looking for extremely distant Solar System objects, so we were serendipitously able to look for new moons around Jupiter while at the same time looking for planets at the fringes of our Solar System.â
Two of the new moons orbit Jupiter in the same direction and in the same location as the inner moons. Nine of the new moons orbit further out in the opposite direction.
One of the new moons orbits in the same direction as the inner moons but orbits with the outer moons. Sheppard says:
âOur other discovery is a real oddball and has an orbit like no other known Jovian moon. Itâs also likely Jupiterâs smallest known moon, being less than one kilometer in diameterâ¦This is an unstable situation. Head-on collisions would quickly break apart and grind the objects down to dust.â
Morning sky: Mercury makes an appearance low in the east in early August.
Evening sky: From west to east after sunset: Venus still dominates the western sky right after sunset. She sets about 10 p.m. You canât miss her brilliance. Traveling eastward, you come to Jupiter hal fway between directly south and west. Next is the ringed gas giant Saturn, almost directly south and just above the âteapotâ of Sagittarius. Last is Mars just above the southeast, bright and red.
4th: Tallahassee Astronomical Societyâs free ($1 donation requested) planetarium show at the Downtown Digital Dome Theatre and Planetarium at the Challenger Learning Center (not recommended for children under 5). Doors close at 10 a.m. sharp so get there by 9:45 a.m. Seating is limited. âJuly Skies over Tallahasseeâ will be repeated at 11 a.m. for a reduced planetarium price of $3 for children or adults and free for Challenger members.
6th: Moon near Hyades star cluster in Taurus the Bull.
12th-13th: Perseids meteor shower peaks in the late night â" early morning hours. You can see meteors a couple of days before and after the peak.
14th: Moon above Venus in the west at sunset.
20th: TAS monthly meeting at the Challenger Learning Center begins at 6:30 pm. Moon to the right of Saturn.
21st: Moon to the left of Saturn.
22nd: Moon to the right of Mars.
23rd: Moon to the left of Mars.
31st: Venus close to bright star Spica in Virgo the Virgin.
Check out TASâs events calendar at www.stargazers.org.
Ken Kopczynski is president of the Tallahassee Astronomical Society, a local group of amateur astronomers.
Read or Share this story: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/life/home-garden/2018/07/26/jupiters-many-moons-continue-surprise/840265002/Source: Google News US Science | Netizen 24 United States
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