NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Mars - Mercury Question
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2013 Feb 3, 09:45 -0800
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2013 Feb 3, 09:45 -0800
Alex wrote:
> If the orbital period of Mercury is 88 days, does it not move (360/88)
No. Because it does not make the full circle (360d) around the sky,
like the Moon does. It moves on a small elongated ellipse around the Sun,
and the size of this ellipse is between 17 to 27 degrees.
And the periods in which Mercury appears to be moving fastest across the sky are when it is in conjunction, and thus not visible from Earth.
Don Seltzer
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