Size of Sun as seen from Mercury |
Size of Sun as seen from Mercury |
Jun 20 2011, 03:02 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 |
I got to wondering about this, considered making my own graphic, then googled and came up with the following, from Burton Mackenzie's blog:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tlXkPX0vMqk/SaTW...ize_diagram.png So apparently the Sun appears about 3 times as large in Mercury's sky as it does on Earth. I was expecting something much more dramatic. |
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Jun 20 2011, 03:18 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 753 Joined: 23-October 04 From: Greensboro, NC USA Member No.: 103 |
That is interesting indeed. It reminds us how far away even Mercury is from the Sun. So many graphics of the solar system make it look like Mercury is only a couple solar radii away!
I had a similar question a couple of months ago, wondering how far you would have to be from the Moon in order for it to appear the same size as Earth from your vantage point. It was a surprisingly small distance, only about 30,000 miles, if I remember correctly. Both bodies would be about 4 degrees across as seen in your sky. -------------------- Jonathan Ward
Manning the LCC at http://www.apollolaunchcontrol.com |
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