Year of the Comet
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS information

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

ISON information

E-mail Article to a FriendPrint ArticleBookmark and Share

StarDome PLUS: Moons

moons1
Explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn using this tab. The top panel shows a view of Jupiter and its moons; the bottom panel shows Saturn and its family of satellites. Text in the upper right corner of the panel indicates whether each planet is in daylight or is currently below the horizon for the selected city.

The observable status of the moons and Jupiter's long-lived storm, the Great Red Spot, appear at lower left. They can be off screen, behind the planet (occulted), in the planet's shadow (eclipsed), or in front of its disk (in transit).

For Jupiter, you can use the Previous/next event control to skip forward or backward through these events. Select Galilean moons, which is an overall term for the satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (discovered in 1610 by Galileo). Click on the left arrow for the previous event, click on the right for the next one.
moons2
Jupiter's Great Red Spot transits the planet
Display options include:

Zoom In/Zoom Out. Use these buttons to control the size of the planets on-screen.

Display. All options are on by default except for Roman numeral designations for satellites. Here you can select whether north is at top or east at left; show moon names; use photographic textures to render the planets; and place a pink marker to locate Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Set GRS Long. StarDome PLUS retains information about the Great Red Spot's longitude, which drifts by a small amount each year. Astronomy editors update this information regularly. By activiating this control, however, you can override the StarDome PLUS value and insert your own.

SEARCH SITE
Subscriber Only Access
Subscriber Only Content
Look for this icon. This denotes premium subscriber content. Learn more »
Become a Member of Astronomy.com
Register today for access to more valuable resource information.
Interact in our forums, comment on articles, receive our newsletter and much more!
Not a member?
Subscriber and Member Login
Password
Remember me