blog:articles:general:martian_weird_spring
Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Next revision | Previous revisionNext revisionBoth sides next revision | ||
blog:articles:general:martian_weird_spring [2019/07/22 13:48] – created Phil Ide | blog:articles:general:martian_weird_spring [2019/07/22 18:26] – [Southern Hemisphere] Phil Ide | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
{{ : | {{ : | ||
- | To do this, we're going to have to examine | + | To explain |
===== Identifying the Problem ===== | ===== Identifying the Problem ===== | ||
First off, let's take a snapshot of the data received from the InSight lander on Mars, and present it in an easily digestible form. | First off, let's take a snapshot of the data received from the InSight lander on Mars, and present it in an easily digestible form. | ||
Line 400: | Line 400: | ||
Let's take a look at the inner planets as they were on 22< | Let's take a look at the inner planets as they were on 22< | ||
{{ : | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Mars is in red, Earth is blue, Venus is yellow and Mercury is white. | ||
The equinoxes and solstices for each planet are marked as ve, ss, ae and ws. VE stands for Vernal Equinox and this is also known as the Spring Equinox. At the equator, the vernal equinox occurs when the sun is directly overhead and when this occurs after winter. During spring, the position of the sun in the sky migrates north, until the moment of the summer solstice, when the sun is at its lowest angle vis the horizon and most northerly position. After that, it begins climbing back until it is once again above the equator - this is the autumn equinox. Thereafter, it descends towards the horizon again, this time south of the equator, until it reaches the winter solstice. After that, it climbs again until it is once more above the equator and we reached the next vernal equinox. | The equinoxes and solstices for each planet are marked as ve, ss, ae and ws. VE stands for Vernal Equinox and this is also known as the Spring Equinox. At the equator, the vernal equinox occurs when the sun is directly overhead and when this occurs after winter. During spring, the position of the sun in the sky migrates north, until the moment of the summer solstice, when the sun is at its lowest angle vis the horizon and most northerly position. After that, it begins climbing back until it is once again above the equator - this is the autumn equinox. Thereafter, it descends towards the horizon again, this time south of the equator, until it reaches the winter solstice. After that, it climbs again until it is once more above the equator and we reached the next vernal equinox. | ||
Line 437: | Line 439: | ||
Hellas Planitia, an incredibly large and deep impact basin in the southern hemisphere, is so deep that air pressure in its lowest areas is sufficient to sustain liquid water. At the moment, nearly all our experiments we've sent to the Martian surface, have landed in the northern hemisphere. The Curiosity rover is an exception to this, but it is wandering around inside Gale Crater, just south of the equator and only a few hundred kilometres from InSight. It will be very interesting to get on-sight weather data from deeper in the southern hemisphere, which we'll surely do as our ability to land on much more [[: | Hellas Planitia, an incredibly large and deep impact basin in the southern hemisphere, is so deep that air pressure in its lowest areas is sufficient to sustain liquid water. At the moment, nearly all our experiments we've sent to the Martian surface, have landed in the northern hemisphere. The Curiosity rover is an exception to this, but it is wandering around inside Gale Crater, just south of the equator and only a few hundred kilometres from InSight. It will be very interesting to get on-sight weather data from deeper in the southern hemisphere, which we'll surely do as our ability to land on much more [[: | ||
+ | |||
+ | //images courtesy of [[https:// | ||
+ | Graph generated by the author, based on data available from NASA's [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ~~socialite~~ | ||
+ | ~~DISCUSSION~~ |