Re: CHAT: Visible planets (was: Corpses)
| From: | Isidora Zamora <isidora@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, November 10, 2003, 1:54 |
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At 08:43 PM 11/9/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Isidora Zamora scripsit:
>
> > They also worship whichever of the planets are visible to the naked
> > eye. (Can anyone tell me which those are? I've seen Mars and Venus
> > myself, but I don't know if any others are visible without a
> > telescope.)
>
>Jupiter and Saturn are easily visible; indeed, Jupiter is more prominent
>than Mars, being brighter and whiter. Mercury is technically visible,
>but it never gets very far from the Sun, so it's hard to catch sight of.
>Uranus is visible, but with an orbital period of 84 years, pre-telescopic
>peoples never identified it as a planet. Neptune and Pluto are completely
>beyond naked-eye astronomy.
Many, many thanks, John. That is the information that I needed but hadn't
made the time to hunt down.
Now, I've got one more question...Is there any difficulty in identifying
the Morning Star and the Evening Star with each other. Are they very
likely to think that they are two separate bodies rather than one? (I
wouldn't know, because I have never really studied any astronomy.)
Isidora
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