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A Big Question

supernova

By supernova
in The Astro Lounge

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supernova

supernova

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Posted

I have been asked a Question and I dont know the answer.

Has there ever been a time in our recorded history that all of the planets in our Solar System have been in a straight line.

I know that the 2 closest to the Sun don't count but it is all about the gas planets in line and if it ever happend what would We see???

BTW if this in the wrong thread please feel free to move it :hello2:

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gurney

gurney

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Lol! Can you imagine the chances of a clear sky for that event? er ... absolutely zero I'd say!

But the event itself wouldn't be as interesting as the events either side of it. When they're inline you're only going to see mars superimposed on Jupiter ... but in the lead up to and the lead out of you might well see all the planets in the same tiny patch of sky huddled together. now that would be a photo worth taking! :hello2:

As for supernova like lightshows ... I think your friend needs to think it through a bit better. For a start the light we see from the planets is all reflected, so unfortunately the very best you could hope for is a few small sources of light adding their light paths together which would amount to very little by way of light intensity increase. With a supernova you have one point source exhibiting an exponential increase in light output, thousands or millions of times its usual intensity - hence the spectacle.

I would suggest your friend gets a nice star program and finds out for himself when the events have occured and when the next one is.

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supernova

supernova

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Lol! Can you imagine the chances of a clear sky for that event? er ... absolutely zero I'd say!

But the event itself wouldn't be as interesting as the events either side of it. When they're inline you're only going to see mars superimposed on Jupiter ... but in the lead up to and the lead out of you might well see all the planets in the same tiny patch of sky huddled together. now that would be a photo worth taking! :hello2:

As for supernova like lightshows ... I think your friend needs to think it through a bit better. For a start the light we see from the planets is all reflected, so unfortunately the very best you could hope for is a few small sources of light adding their light paths together which would amount to very little by way of light intensity increase. With a supernova you have one point source exhibiting an exponential increase in light output, thousands or millions of times its usual intensity - hence the spectacle.

I would suggest your friend gets a nice star program and finds out for himself when the events have occured and when the next one is.

That is the answer I was hoping for I will pass it on :p all I needed was back up. cheers.
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mdstuart

mdstuart

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A page on the web site of the Griffith Observatory (in Los Angeles) notes, among other things, that a very close alignment of the naked-eye planets took place on February 27th, 1953 B.C., in which these five planets were together in a span of 4.3 degrees. No closer alignment has taken place since then: on September 8th of 2040, a fairly close alignment within a space of 9.3 degrees will be observed.

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mdstuart

mdstuart

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From Yahoo

Partial line-ups are common. 'Line up' is usually a misnomer as a general allignment can mean anywhere within the same quadrant. Alignments of Mercury through Saturn are not that unusual. 1962, 2000, 2040,2438. The inner six planets are roughly alligned every 50-100 years.

Effects of this alignment will either cause nothing or end-of-the-world catastrophies depending on if you are on a science website or on a psychic/numerologist/armegeddon website. If you are visiting the latter, then the world should end in 2012 just like it ended in 2000, 1983, 4/4/04, 3/3/03 etc.

Your question is not specific but I assume you mean all 8 planets (and maybe the Moon). Scientific studies indicate that if this were to occur - hang on - tides would be raised 1/600 of an inch. Hardly something to lose sleep over.

Probability of ALL planets at same Right Ascension with respect to Sun at same time = once in 180 trillion years! If we include the Moon in this calculation, that is, it being at either a solar or lunar eclipse during this time, we multiply its period onto this. For an exact alignment when all of the planets are inclined with respect to the ecliptic, we must factor this line-of-nodes precession into our calculations.

The calculated probability for an exact planetary alignment to occur is once in 86 billion-trillion-trillion-trillion years (86 followed by 45 zeros). The odds strongly favor that an exact planetary alignment will NEVER occur throughout the entire history of the solar system.

Sorry.

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661-pete

661-pete

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Don't know about 'alignments' or whatever, astrology not being my forte, but I wonder about 'five-planet' nights (when Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all visible in the sky at the same time). More mundane perhaps, but still impressive, and not so common events as some might suppose, Mercury being the main defaulter of course. I can remember only one occasion seen with my own eyes in recent years, when all five planets were simultaneously visible although not in the same quadrant of sky. Perhaps someone can say when the next will be...

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supernova

supernova

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From Yahoo

Partial line-ups are common. 'Line up' is usually a misnomer as a general allignment can mean anywhere within the same quadrant. Alignments of Mercury through Saturn are not that unusual. 1962, 2000, 2040,2438. The inner six planets are roughly alligned every 50-100 years.

Effects of this alignment will either cause nothing or end-of-the-world catastrophies depending on if you are on a science website or on a psychic/numerologist/armegeddon website. If you are visiting the latter, then the world should end in 2012 just like it ended in 2000, 1983, 4/4/04, 3/3/03 etc.

Your question is not specific but I assume you mean all 8 planets (and maybe the Moon). Scientific studies indicate that if this were to occur - hang on - tides would be raised 1/600 of an inch. Hardly something to lose sleep over.

Probability of ALL planets at same Right Ascension with respect to Sun at same time = once in 180 trillion years! If we include the Moon in this calculation, that is, it being at either a solar or lunar eclipse during this time, we multiply its period onto this. For an exact alignment when all of the planets are inclined with respect to the ecliptic, we must factor this line-of-nodes precession into our calculations.

The calculated probability for an exact planetary alignment to occur is once in 86 billion-trillion-trillion-trillion years (86 followed by 45 zeros). The odds strongly favor that an exact planetary alignment will NEVER occur throughout the entire history of the solar system.

Sorry.

Thanks very much for that It backs up what I said so I win A pint :hello2:

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