Light Cup Phasic Beginning
Started by ronbee, 09/23/2003 01:01AM
Posted 09/23/2003 01:01AM
Opening Post
Posted 09/23/2003 08:27AM
#1
Ron,
There can be no New Mars. Any superior planet will be either illuminated to some extent or in superior conjunction. Think about it.
Dave Mitsky
There can be no New Mars. Any superior planet will be either illuminated to some extent or in superior conjunction. Think about it.
Dave Mitsky
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Posted 09/23/2003 09:15PM
#2
Dear Light Cup
I bring you greetings from these islands in the Great Southern Ocean. Your master Ron has posted some queries on your behalf and I will endeavour to answer at least some of them.
<"My Light Cup curiously wondered why no observers of the past centuries ever called it "Gibbous Mars", "Full Mars" and "New Mars""> Well, the earliest treatise on Astronomy which I have in my library is the second edition of Thomas Keith's "A New Treatise on the Use Of Globes, or A Philosophical View of The Earth and Heavens" published by Samuel Wood and Sons, New York, 1826 A.D. On page 153 he writes, quote: "Mars, when viewed through a telescope, appears sometimes full and round, at others gibbous, but never horned. The foregoing appearances clearly show, that Mars moves in an orbit more distant from the sun than that of the earth." Unquote. So there you have it. Being a superior planet, Mars is never horned and can therefore never be "New" either (the logic being, that Mars would have to become "horned" as a prelude to becoming "New", if you see what I mean). ;-)
<"I wonder if the intense heat of the sun would melt the ice cap completely"> The southern "ice cap" is composed of carbon dioxide ice and not water ice. It is only the thickness of a very heavy frost (current speculation is that it is only a few inches thick). The atmospheric pressure on Mars is very low (below the "triple point" of carbon dioxide), and when the solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice") is heated by the sun it does not melt, but SUBLIMES i.e. passes directly from the solid state into the gaseous state, so that there is never any liquid present. Incidentally, WATER ice behaves similarly if the pressure of the gas above the ice is below the triple point of water i.e. the ice passes directly into water vapour without producing liquid water (incidentally, this is how freeze dried instant coffee is produced, although I suppose that Light Cups never partake of the quaint custom of consuming this beverage).
Well, dear Light Cup, I hope you will continue to delight us with the treasures of the Universe which you bring to our attention with your exquisitely fashioned cyclopaedian eye. If nothing else, you have shown us that size does NOT matter; what IS important is how (and how often) you use what you've got. ;-)
Yours in photonic brotherhood.
Anthony @ 41°S 175°E
I bring you greetings from these islands in the Great Southern Ocean. Your master Ron has posted some queries on your behalf and I will endeavour to answer at least some of them.
<"My Light Cup curiously wondered why no observers of the past centuries ever called it "Gibbous Mars", "Full Mars" and "New Mars""> Well, the earliest treatise on Astronomy which I have in my library is the second edition of Thomas Keith's "A New Treatise on the Use Of Globes, or A Philosophical View of The Earth and Heavens" published by Samuel Wood and Sons, New York, 1826 A.D. On page 153 he writes, quote: "Mars, when viewed through a telescope, appears sometimes full and round, at others gibbous, but never horned. The foregoing appearances clearly show, that Mars moves in an orbit more distant from the sun than that of the earth." Unquote. So there you have it. Being a superior planet, Mars is never horned and can therefore never be "New" either (the logic being, that Mars would have to become "horned" as a prelude to becoming "New", if you see what I mean). ;-)
<"I wonder if the intense heat of the sun would melt the ice cap completely"> The southern "ice cap" is composed of carbon dioxide ice and not water ice. It is only the thickness of a very heavy frost (current speculation is that it is only a few inches thick). The atmospheric pressure on Mars is very low (below the "triple point" of carbon dioxide), and when the solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice") is heated by the sun it does not melt, but SUBLIMES i.e. passes directly from the solid state into the gaseous state, so that there is never any liquid present. Incidentally, WATER ice behaves similarly if the pressure of the gas above the ice is below the triple point of water i.e. the ice passes directly into water vapour without producing liquid water (incidentally, this is how freeze dried instant coffee is produced, although I suppose that Light Cups never partake of the quaint custom of consuming this beverage).
Well, dear Light Cup, I hope you will continue to delight us with the treasures of the Universe which you bring to our attention with your exquisitely fashioned cyclopaedian eye. If nothing else, you have shown us that size does NOT matter; what IS important is how (and how often) you use what you've got. ;-)
Yours in photonic brotherhood.
Anthony @ 41°S 175°E
Funding Member
