SolarSystemTargets < Main

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---+ Solar System Targets

Because the objects in the solar system have their own orbits, they are not visible at different times of the year in the same way that deep-sky objects are.  However, this page still provides background information on the common solar system targets you might view through the telescope.


|  *Object*  |  *Type*  |  *Discovered*  |  *Brightness*  |   *Apparent Size*  |  *Size (Rel to Earth)*  |  *Suggested Telescope*  |  *Observing Notes*  |  *Notes*  |  *Links for More Information*  |
|  Moon  |  moon  |  Antiquity  |  -12.6 - -2.5  |  30'  |  0.27 Earth  |  any   |  Best observed near first/third quarter, since side illumination shows crater/highlands; use filter to limit light  |  Consists of dark "seas" (maria) and bright "highlands" (terrae); albedo is ~10% -- similar to coal  |  [[http://www.space.com/55-earths-moon-formation-composition-and-orbit.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/luna.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/moon.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Mercury  |  planet  |  Antiquity  |  -2.6 - 5.7  |  5-13''  |  0.38 Earth  |  >= 8"   |  Only visible during dawn/dusk due to interior orbit; shows phases   |  No atmosphere; ice thought to exist in permanently shrouded craters at poles; anomolies in orbit confirmed general relativity;  |  [[http://www.space.com/36-mercury-the-suns-closest-planetary-neighbor.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/mercury.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Venus  |  planet  |  Antiquity  |  -5 - -3.8  |  10-63''  |  0.95 Earth  |  >= 6"   |  Brightest planet in the sky; only visible near sunset/sunrise due to interior orbit; shows phases  |  Hottest planet in solar system 870F; greenhouse runaway atmosphere   |  [[http://www.space.com/44-venus-second-planet-from-the-sun-brightest-planet-in-solar-system.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/venus.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Mars  |  planet  |  Antiquity  |  -2.9 - 1.8  |  3-25''  |  0.53 Earth  |  >= 8"   |  Distinctive red color and relative brightness make it easy to find  |  Home to tallest mountain in solar system, Olympus Mons;    |  [[http://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/mars.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Jupiter  |  planet  |  Antiquity  |  -2.9 - -1.6  |  30-50''  |  11.2 Earth  |  >= 8"   |  Can see Galilean Moons and red spot with telescope, use [[http://www.shallowsky.com/jupiter/][Jupiter Tracker]]  |  Most massive planet; has 63 moons and tenuous rings;    |  [[http://www.space.com/7-jupiter-largest-planet-solar-system.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/jupiter.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Saturn  |  planet  |  Antiquity  |  -0.5 - 1.5  |  14-21''  |  9.4 Earth  |  >= 8"   |  Can see rings easily in telescope  |  rings made of billions of particles of ice and rock, ranging in size from a grain of sugar to the size of a house   |  [[http://www.space.com/48-saturn-the-solar-systems-major-ring-bearer.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/saturn.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Uranus  |  planet  |  William Herschel 1781  |  5.3 - 6.0  |  3-4''  |  4.0 Earth  |  >= 10"   |  Beautiful aqua color; hard to find unless using tracking/finding with 10"  |  pronounced "YOOR-a-nus", not "your anus"; rotation axis is perpendicular to its orbital axis; first planet discovered in modern times   |  [[http://www.space.com/45-uranus-seventh-planet-in-earths-solar-system-was-first-discovered-planet.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/uranus.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Neptune  |  planet  |  Urbain Le Verrier 1846   |  7.8 - 8.0  |  2-2.5''  |  3.9 Earth  |  >= 10"   |  Dark blue/purple; hard to find unless using tracking/finding with 10"  |  Using Newtonian Gravitation to understand anomolies in Uranus' orbit, Neptune was found where predicted to be   |  [[http://www.space.com/41-neptune-the-other-blue-planet-in-our-solar-system.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/neptune.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Pluto  |  dwarf planet  |   Clyde Tombaugh 1930  |  13.6 -   |  0.06-0.1''  |  0.18 Earth  |  Good luck!   |  Extremely faint, probably need >16" telescope with good tracking  |   Highly elliptical orbit and out of the plane of the solar system; originally classified as a planet, reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 due to similarity with many many other kuiper belt objects  |  [[http://www.space.com/43-pluto-the-ninth-planet-that-was-a-dwarf.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/pluto.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm][Solarviews]]  |
|  Ceres  |  dwarf planet  |  Guiseppi Piazzi 1801   |  6.6 -  |  0.3-0.8''  |  0.08 Earth  |  >= 10"   |  Probably need >10" telescope with good tracking  |   Largest of the asteroid belt objects; classified as a planet in 1801 but reclassified as an asteroid in the 1850s due to discovery of several other asteroids  |  [[http://www.space.com/22891-ceres-dwarf-planet.html][Space.com]] [[http://nineplanets.org/ceres.html][NinePlanets]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet)][Wikipedia]] [[http://solarviews.com/eng/ceres.htm][Solarviews]]  |
Topic revision: r1 - 2016-07-04 - OutreachAdmin