Let's start with Mercury. Mercury is an extremely hot world because it is very close to the Sun and has no atmosphere to shield it from the sun's heat. The lack of atmosphere determines what Mercury's sky looks like. The stars on Mercury are visible only at night; during the day they are not visible due to the fact that the Sun shines very brightly and outshines the stars with its brilliance. The solar disk is approximately three times larger than that of Earth. Temperature at night is −180, during the day +430.
There is very interesting feature Mercury sky. Once a Mercury year, for about 8 days, the sun is in the sky Mercury first it stops and then starts moving in the other direction. After eight days, the sun stops again, and then resumes its normal movement.
The second planet from the Sun is Venus. You won’t see the sun from the surface because of dense clouds of sulfuric acid, the pressure will squeeze out your eyes, and the temperature is even higher than on Mercury (+480°C), so you’re unlikely to have time to see anything.
Red Planet - Mars. The sun on Mars is 1.5 times smaller. The sunset is not red like on Earth, but bluish. The reason for this color of the sky is the same as what gives on Earth blue sky and red sunset - Rayleigh scattering. The difference between the color of the sky at noon and at sunset is in the volume of the atmosphere that is overcome sun rays. On Mars, the atmosphere is a hundred times thinner than on Earth, but when the Sun is at the horizon, its light penetrates a layer of atmosphere thirty times thicker than at noon.
Jupiter- the largest planet in our system in every sense. A giant ball of gas, inside which hydrogen acquires metallic properties. The sun is 5.2 times smaller. As it dives into the atmosphere, the Sun will be covered by clouds different colors: Mainly blue, brown and red. However, Jupiter emits more heat than it receives from the outside.
Jupiter has several rings made of dust and tiny asteroids. These rings can be visible from latitudes far from the equator. In addition, several moons can be seen in the sky of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. The most noticeable of them will be Io: from Jupiter it will appear slightly larger than our Earth's Moon.
Lord of the Rings - Saturn. The most beautiful planet solar system. The size of the solar disk is on average 9.5 times (!) smaller than ours. Also gas giant, emits more heat than it receives from the Sun.
Uranus- a truly unique planet. Uranus is unique in its location, its axis is tilted at 98 degrees, which forces the original planet to orbit while lying on its side. In this position, the main flow is directed towards the pole areas solar energy, but, contrary to logical conclusions, the temperature at the equator has more high performance. The direction of rotation of the ice giant is the opposite of its orbital motion. Uranus makes one revolution in 84 Earth years, and a day passes in 17 hours; this period is calculated approximately due to the uneven movement of the gaseous surface. In short, imagining how the Sun moves across the sky requires the brain to boil.
Neptune- blue giant. The winds blowing on Neptune have a unique speed, its average is 1000 km/h, and hurricane gusts reach 2400 km/h. Air masses move against the axis of rotation of the planet. An inexplicable fact is the intensification of storms and winds, which is observed with increasing distance between the planet and the Sun. The sun is 30 times smaller than the earth's.
There are thirteen known satellites of Neptune. The largest of them, Triton, will appear slightly larger than our Moon; the next largest Proteus will be half the size. The remaining moons of Neptune are small and will be visible as ordinary stars.
Pluto 40 times farther from the Sun than the Earth, so little solar energy and light comes here that our star can be confused with big star. Pluto and its moon Charon orbit each other, and Pluto's orbit is sharply tilted relative to the other planets. A year on Pluto lasts 248 Earth years. And a day is almost a week. The surface temperature ranges from minus 228 to minus 238 °C.
*Illustrations by Ron Miller
"Post from the Past": On September 22, after the crew of Expedition 23 was sent into space, Colonel Douglas H. Wheelock assumed command of the International Space Station and the crew of Expedition 25. He can be found under the handle @Astro_Wheels on Twitter, where the astronaut posts photos taken from board the space station. We bring to your attention incredible, breathtaking photographs of our planet from an unusual point of view. Commentary provided by Douglas.
1. Go Discovery! On October 23, 2007 at 11:40 am, I went into space for the first time on the Discovery shuttle. He is wonderful... it's a pity that this is his last flight. I'm looking forward to boarding the ship when it arrives at the station in November.
2. Earthly radiance. Space station in blue earthly radiance, which appears when the rising sun penetrates our planet's thin atmosphere, bathing the station in blue light. I will never forget this place... a view like this makes my soul sing and my heart wants to fly.
3. NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock.
4. Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Africa. The amazing colors of these places can compete with the views of the Caribbean Sea.
5. Northern lights in the distance on one of the beautiful nights over Europe. The Strait of Dover is clearly visible in the photo, as is Paris, the city of lights. Little fog over western part England, in particular over London. How incredible it is to see the lights of cities and towns against the backdrop of deep space. I will miss this view of our wonderful world.
6. “Fly me to the Moon...let me dance among the Stars...” (Take me to the Moon, let's dance among the stars). I hope we never lose our sense of wonder. A passion for exploration and discovery is a great legacy to leave to your children. I hope someday we'll set our sails and set off on a journey. Someday this wonderful day will come...
7. Of all the places on our magnificent planet, few can compete in beauty and richness of colors with. This photo shows our ship “Progress-37” against the backdrop of the Bahamas. How beautiful our world is!
8. At a speed of 28,163 km/h (8 km per second)... we orbit the Earth, making one revolution every 90 minutes, and seeing sunsets and sunrises every 45 minutes. So half of our journey takes place in pitch darkness. To work, we simply need flashlights on our helmets. In this photo I am preparing the handle of one device... "M3 Ammonia Connector".
9. Every time I look out the window and see our beautiful planet, my soul sings! I see blue skies, white clouds and a bright blessed day.
10. Another spectacular sunset. In Earth's orbit, we see 16 such sunsets every day, and each of them is truly valuable. This beautiful thin one blue line– what sets our planet apart from many others. It's cold in space, and the Earth is an island of life in the vast dark sea of space.
11. Beautiful atoll in Pacific Ocean, photographed with a 400mm lens. Approximately 1930 km south of Honolulu.
12. Beautiful reflection of sunlight in the eastern part Mediterranean Sea. There are no borders visible from space... From there you can only see breathtaking views, such as the view of this island of Cyprus.
13. Above the center Atlantic Ocean, before another amazing sunset. Below, the spirals of Hurricane Earl are visible in the rays of the setting sun. Interesting look at vital energy our sun. The sun's rays on the port side of the station and on Hurricane Earl... these two objects are collecting the last bits of energy before plunging into darkness.
14. A little further east we saw the sacred monolith of Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock. I've never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but one day I hope to stand next to this natural wonder.
15. Morning over the Andes in South America. I don’t know for sure the name of this peak, but I was simply amazed by its magic, the peaks reaching towards the sun and winds.
16. Over the Sahara Desert, approaching ancient lands and thousands of years of history. The Nile River flows through Egypt past the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo. Further, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, as well as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece on the horizon.
17. Night view to the Nile River, which snakes through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, and Cairo, located in the river delta. What a contrast between the dark lifeless desert northern Africa and the Nile River, on the banks of which life is in full swing. In the distance in this photograph taken beautifully autumn evening, the Mediterranean Sea is visible.
18. Our unmanned 'Progress 39P' is approaching the ISS for refueling. It's full of food, fuel, spare parts and everything we need for our station. Inside was a real gift - fresh fruits and vegetables. What a miracle after three months of tube feeding!
20. Soyuz 23C Olympus module docked on the nadir side. When our work here is finished, we will return home to Earth. I thought you might enjoy seeing this spectacle through the Dome. We're flying over snow-capped peaks Caucasus. Rising Sun reflected from the Caspian Sea.
21. A flash of color, movement and life on our canvas amazing world. This is part of the Great Barrier Reef east coast Australia, captured through a 1200mm lens. I think even the great impressionists would have been amazed by this natural painting.
22. All the beauty of Italy is clear summer evening. You can see many beautiful islands decorating the coast - Capri, Sicily and Malta. Naples and Mount Vesuvius stand out along the coast.
23. At the southern end South America lies the pearl of Patagonia. The amazing beauty of the rocky mountains, massive glaciers, fjords and open sea combines in amazing harmony. I dreamed about this place. I wonder what it would be like to breathe the air there. Real magic!
24. The “dome” on the nadir side of the station gives a panoramic view of our beautiful planet. Fedor took this photo from the window of the Russian docking bay. In this photo I'm sitting in the canopy getting my camera ready for our evening flight over Hurricane Earl.
25. Greek Islands on a clear night during our flight over Europe. Athens shines brightly along the Mediterranean Sea. An unreal feeling arises when you see all the beauty ancient land from space.
26. Florida and south-eastern part USA in the evening. Clear autumn evening, moonlight over the water and a sky strewn with millions of stars.
27. Clear Starlight Night above eastern part Mediterranean Sea. Ancient lands from thousand years of history stretch from Athens to Cairo. Historical lands, fabulous cities and tempting islands... Athens - Crete - Rhodes - Izmir - Ankara - Cyprus - Damascus - Beirut - Haifa - Amman - Tel Aviv - Jerusalem - Cairo - they all turned into tiny lights in this cool November night. These places seem to emanate grace and tranquility.
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The sun is something without which it is impossible to imagine life on our planet. We all love to remember gorgeous sunsets and sunrises that we simply couldn’t tear ourselves away from. But can we imagine what it looks like celestial body on other planets? Digital illustrations created by Ron Miller, who has spent decades depicting outer space, will help us with this.
website invites you to travel and find out how the Sun appears on each of the 8 other planets.
Mercury
Mercury is 60 million km away from the Sun. This is 39% of the distance from the Earth to the Sun. And the dawn on Mercury is 3 times brighter than on Earth.
Venus
The Sun, which is “almost” visible from Venus, is located at a distance of 108 million km (72% of the distance from the Earth to the Sun). Because of the thick gas clouds, it looks like a spot on a cloudy day.
Mars
The Sun is located at a distance of 230 million km from the Red Planet, and this is 1.5 times more distance between the Sun and Earth. But it’s not the distance that prevents you from seeing it, but the dusty winds rising right into the atmosphere.
Jupiter
And this is what the Sun looks like from the surface of Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. Jupiter is further away: the distance is 779 million km (which is 5.2 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun). sunlight, passing through the layers of the atmosphere, illuminates it with a ring of red light.
Saturn
Saturn is perhaps one of the most recognizable planets. The Sun is separated from Saturn by 1.5 billion km (the distance is 9.5 times greater than between our planet and the Sun), but this makes the star shine no less brightly. Rays from water crystals and gases are refracted, creating incredible optical effects such as halos and false suns.
Sunrise on Mars
Sunrise at the bottom of one of the canyons of the Labyrinth of Night in the province of Tharsis on Mars. The reddish color of the sky is given by dust scattered in the atmosphere, consisting mainly of “rust” - iron oxides (if real photos, made by Mars rovers, apply automatic color correction in a photo editor, then the sky on them will become “normal” blue color. The surface stones, however, will acquire a greenish tint, which is not true, so it’s still correct as it is here). This dust scatters and partially refracts light, resulting in a blue halo around the Sun in the sky.
Dawn on Io
Dawn on Io, Jupiter's moon. The snow-like surface in the foreground consists of sulfur dioxide crystals ejected to the surface in geysers similar to the one now visible beyond the nearby horizon. There is no atmosphere here that creates turbulence, which is why the geyser has such a regular shape.
Dawn on Mars
Solar eclipse on Callisto.
This is the furthest of the four large satellites Jupiter. It is smaller than Ganymede, but larger than Io and Europa. Callisto is also covered with a crust of ice in half with rocks, under which there is an ocean of water (the closer to the outskirts of the solar system, the greater the proportion of oxygen in the substance of the planets, and, therefore, water), however, this satellite is practically not tormented by tidal interactions, so surface ice can reach a hundred-kilometer thickness, and there is no volcanism , so the presence of life here is unlikely. In this image we are looking at Jupiter from a position of approximately 5° from north pole Callisto. The Sun will soon emerge from Jupiter's right edge; and its rays are refracted by the atmosphere giant planet. The blue dot to the left of Jupiter is the Earth, the yellowish one to the right is Venus, and to the right and above it is Mercury. The whitish stripe behind Jupiter is not Milky Way, and a disk of gas and dust in the ecliptic plane of the inner part of the Solar System, known to earthly observers as the “zodiacal light”
Jupiter - view from the Europa satellite
The crescent moon of Jupiter slowly oscillates above the horizon of Europa. The eccentricity of its orbit is constantly subject to disturbances due to orbital resonance with Io, which is now passing against the background of Jupiter. Tidal deformation causes Europa's surface to become covered with deep cracks and provides the satellite with heat, stimulating underground geological processes which allows you to stay subsurface ocean liquid.
Rising on Mercury.
The disk of the sun from Mercury appears three times larger than from Earth, and many times brighter, especially in the airless sky.
Considering the slow rotation of this planet, before this, for several weeks, from the same point, one could observe the solar corona slowly crawling out from behind the horizon
Triton
Full Neptune in the sky is the only source of light for the night side of Triton. The thin line across Neptune's disk is its rings, visible edge-on, and the dark circle is the shadow of Triton itself. The opposite edge of the depression in the middle ground is approximately 15 kilometers away.
Sunrise on Triton looks no less impressive:
"Summer" on Pluto.
Despite its small size and great distance from the Sun, Pluto at times has an atmosphere. This happens when Pluto, moving along its elongated orbit, approaches the Sun closer than Neptune. During this roughly twenty-year period, some of the methane-nitrogen ice on its surface evaporates, enveloping the planet in an atmosphere rivaling that of Mars in density. On February 11, 1999, Pluto once again crossed the orbit of Neptune and again became farther from the Sun (and would now be the ninth planet, farthest from the Sun, if it had not been “demoted” in 2006 with the adoption of the definition of the term “planet”) . Now, until 2231, it will be an ordinary (albeit the largest) frozen planetoid of the Kuiper belt - dark, covered with an armor of frozen gases, in places acquiring a reddish tint from interaction with the gamma rays of outer space.
Dangerous dawn on Gliese 876d
Sunrises on the planet Gliese 876d can be dangerous. Although, in fact, no one from humanity knows real conditions on this planet. She spins very close range from variable star- the red dwarf Gliese 876. This image shows how the artist imagined them. The mass of this planet is several times greater than the mass of the Earth, and the size of its orbit is smaller than the orbit of Mercury. Gliese 876d rotates so slowly that conditions on this planet are very different during the day and night. It can be assumed that a strong volcanic activity, caused by gravitational tides, which deforms and heats the planet, and itself intensifies during the daytime.
Sunsets are beautiful from anywhere in the solar system. And although we will never be able to enjoy them in person, satellites, telescopes and computer modelling allow you to see breathtaking pictures.
The most nearby planet to the Sun - Mercury. The solar disk is approximately three times larger than that of Earth. Temperature at night: −180 °C, during the day: +430 °C.
The second planet from the Sun is Venus. You won’t see the sun from the surface because of dense clouds of sulfuric acid, the pressure will squeeze out your eyes, and the temperature is even higher than on Mercury (+480 °C), so you’re unlikely to have time to see anything.
And here is the third planet from the Sun. How do you like this rare angle?
Red planet - Mars. The sun on Mars is 1.5 times smaller. The sunset is not red, like on Earth, but bluish. The reason for this color of the sky is the same that on Earth gives a blue sky and a red sunset - Rayleigh scattering... The difference between the color of the sky at noon and at sunset is in the volume of the atmosphere that is overcome by the sun's rays. On Mars, the atmosphere is a hundred times thinner than on Earth, but when the Sun is near the horizon, light travels thirty times thicker through the atmosphere than at midday.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our system in every sense. A giant ball of gas, inside which hydrogen acquires metallic properties. The sun is 5.2 times smaller. However, Jupiter emits more heat than it receives from the outside. And here is the view from the Europa satellite:
Lord of the Rings - Saturn. The most beautiful planet in the solar system. The size of the solar disk is on average 9.5 times (!) smaller than ours. The gas giant also emits more heat than it receives from the Sun.
Uranus is a truly unique planet. Uranus is unique in its location, its axis is tilted at 98 degrees, which forces the planet to orbit while lying on its side. In this position, the main flow of solar energy is directed to the polar regions, but contrary to logical conclusions, the temperature at the equator has higher values. The direction of rotation of the ice giant is the opposite of its orbital motion. Uranus makes one revolution in 84 Earth years, and a day passes in 17 hours; this period is calculated approximately due to the uneven movement of the gaseous surface. It is impossible to imagine how the Sun moves across the sky without the brain boiling (for Mercury it is even worse). And here is a satellite view of Ariel:
Neptune is a blue giant. Neptune's winds have a unique speed, average- 1000 km/h, and gusts during a hurricane - 2400 km/h. Air masses move against the planet's axis of rotation. An inexplicable fact is the increase in storms and winds, which is observed with increasing distance between the planet and the Sun. Attention! The sun is 30 times smaller than the earth's. Not the best the best place admiring the sunset, but here's the view from Triton:
Well, and our little brother, whom everyone offends - dwarf planet Pluto. It is 40 times further from the Sun than the Earth; so little solar energy and light comes here that our star can be confused with a large star. Pluto and its moon Charon orbit each other, and Pluto's orbit is sharply tilted relative to the other planets. A year on Pluto lasts 248 Earth years. And a day is almost a week. The surface temperature ranges from - 228 to - 238 °C.
