# Questions tagged [solar-system]

Refers to questions concerning the solar system containing Earth. For other solar systems, use the 'planetary-system' tag.

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### Are Planet orbits available to download in some vectorial format file?

I would like to work with solar system planet orbits in a Geographic Information Software like QGIS, so: Are available to download the orbits of solar system planets in some vector format?
56 views

### moon's true anomaly at date of new moon

I've seen on this site: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/moonorbit.html a table that gives the true anomaly of the moon at the time of new moon. The difference between the true anomaly at one new ...
180 views

### Is the Heliosphere as elliptical as this graphic suggests?

I noticed the following graphic being used in an article discussing the Voyager probes. It also appears on Wikipedia's Heliosphere page: The same page states that: On a broader scale, the motion ...
60 views

### Which solar system objects could a space elevator be built on with modern tech?

Which solar system objects have the right combination of low gravity and fast spinning rate, that an object tall enough to be a space elevator could be built on with modern construction tech? By "...
576 views

### What target is the most difficult to reach in the solar system?

"Most difficult", as in the minimum $\Delta v$ required, the objective being capture into an orbit around the object. Looking through some Delta-v maps, I would suspect the answer to be some inner ...
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### What is the heaviest chemical element that has been recovered from beyond cis-lunar space? [closed]

Material has come to Earth from deep space (beyond cis-linar) and been subjected to scientific analysis both in the form of meteorites, and via robotic sample collection spacecraft and robotic ...
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### Where will we get nitrogen in space?

It's expensive to launch things out of a gravity well. So in the future, as we seek to manufacture things in space, it's worth exploring the possibility of harvesting them there as well. In the ...
130 views

### Why does my Saturnian System simulation “rotate” over time?

I am attempting to create a "top-down view" of the Saturnian System, using the Keplerian Elements + Rates provided here: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_elem#saturn To verify the validity of my ...
3k views

### What is the most fuel efficient way out of the Solar System?

I understand with current technology we can't just fly a straight line out of the solar system but which way out would need the least fuel? Currently to navigate the solar system it is a dance ...
142 views

### Highest velocity impact between a spacecraft and a solar system body? What about for a dedicated impactor (spacecraft component)?

In this answer I mention the proposed impact of DART: Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission Double Asteroid Redirection Test The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Element of the ...
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### Why are probes that tend to explore outer system always launched to go outwards instead of straight upwards or downwards?

Let's take a look at the trajectory of variety probe missions. New Horizons and Ultima Thule will be 4.1 billion miles away when it visits the Kuiper Belt object. This chart shows the path of New ...
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### Space Travel Advanced Recon [closed]

Could a network of probes be sent ahead of a mother ship to form a grid to lay a path for travel inside the solar system? After what certain speed anything larger then a stationary pebble could be ...
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### What words are used to mean in relation to or origin of a planet?

Pretty simple question I think, but I am having trouble confirming a legitimate answer. If things related to Mars are Martian, things related to Jupiter are Jovian, and things related to the Moon ...
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### Is Voyager 2 capable of proving the existence of Oort cloud?

Yesterday on Dec 10 2018, NASA announced that Voyager 2 probe has exited the heliosphere - the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun and entered the interstellar-medium;...
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### Why do some scientists want a moon base for further space travel? What are the advantages of a moon base if compared with an earth base?

The distance between moon and earth is just 384,400 km. So, if we can travel (from moon) to another planet, we also can travel (from earth) to the same planet. But I've read that some scientists want ...
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### Which planet gets the most money? Which gets the least?

I'm curious if anyone has ever tallied the expenditures of all of the world's space programs, and then tried to divide it by which planet was targeted. It's possible this has already been done. If ...
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### How was the radius of Venus measured so accurately (± 3 km) via radar in the mid 1960's, before Venera 4 and Mariner 5?

In several answers to the question When did planetary scientists realize Venus' surface pressure was almost 100x that on Earth? How did they find out? the known radius of Venus is mentioned. It was ...
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### What is the farthest artificial satellite in orbit in our solar system?

When did we send the farthest satellite and what is its role and name ?
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### Plotting error values between simulated and JPL data

I'm attempting to compare values between my simulated data for the solar system and the official JPL data, to find errors for the position, velocity, inclination and azimuth. The simulated data was ...
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### How to get the coordinates from NASA JPL Ephemerides DE430 ( ECRS) to ECI?

I'm trying to make a software that determines the orbit of a satellite which is affected by the Sun and Moon. The coordinates [x y z] that I have for the satellite are in Eci. For the position of the ...
108 views

### Variation in Earth's aphelion and perihelion

I see from Astropixels.com that Earth's aphelion and perihelion each vary by a little over 29,000 km, while the earth-moon barycenter wobble is about 4,000 km. Is Astropixels.com correct? Are Jupiter ...
258 views

### Are any of the planets in our solar system (other than Earth) inhabitable?

I've watched a TV series on a group of people that build a community on our neighboring planet, Mars, and after watching it, I started to wonder: Could something like this really happen in the near ...
84 views

### Any algorithmic models of our solar system to predict positions relative to earth?

I'm looking for a map/model of the movements of our solar system and associated moons. What are the 'best' algorythmic models to represent our solar system. Looking to write a game/edutainment app ...
228 views

### Is there a planet walk with the positions of Voyager 1 and 2?

There are a lot of walks like the Sagan Planet Walk (see the list on Wikipedia). But are there any of these walks that include the position of the Voyager space probes? Some days ago I was ...
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### Does Sunlight have a range? [closed]

If you switch on a lightbulb in a room its light has a visible range. So how about Sunlight? Does it light more on Mercury and less on Pluto? And what about planets that are not in the Solar System?
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### How many satellites would be required for Solar System GPS?

GPS is a Global Positioning System. it uses satellites in orbit to identify precise location on a globe. Several posts here talk about it being used in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with success. About 30 ...
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### What does “side view” of solar system look like?

I'm trying to grasp what a 2D "side-view" of the solar system looks like. There are many examples of a "top-down" view of the solar system. But the side-view confuses me somewhat. The plane of ...
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### What science could be performed by an extra-solar probe?

An earlier question asked whether there were any planned missions outside the solar system, which made me think of this question. What would the scientific benefits be in sending a probe outside the ...
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### Are there any planned missions for spacecraft leaving the solar system? [duplicate]

We have some spacecraft that have extended missions outside of the solar system (ie voyager), but are there any plans for new spacecraft that will leave our solar system either by a primary or ...
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### Can a launch of a rocket or ship from Earth go so badly that it damages the Solar System?

Is it possible for a launch of a space object originating from Earth to go so badly that it would cause permanent damage to the Solar System or even destroy it? Example: a spaceship going off ...
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### Niku - potential object beyond Neptune spinning counterclock-wise

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2100700-mystery-object-in-weird-orbit-beyond-neptune-cannot-be-explained/ What could be potential reasons for a) the object only now being discovered (200km in ...
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### Could, in another star system, gas giants be closer to the star then earth-like planets?

Looking at Sol, we can see that earth-like planets are close to the sun, while Gas Giants are at medium distance with Ice Giants being far out. Im wondering if this make-up is actually the norm or if ...
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### What are the implications if Juno finds that Jupiter has a solid core?

Juno has arrived at Jupiter, and will begin taking measurements to determine if the gas giant has a solid core. But what I cannot seem to find is the implications such a discovery would have. This ...
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### Why not use Halley's Comet as a probe?

Halley's Comet comes around every 75 years. From what I can gather on Wikipedia the comet is not spinning that fast, has a large elliptical orbit, and has been recorded since 240 BC returning on a ...
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### Is there free, accurate and updated data on planetary body positions in the solar system?

I'm a software developer and I'm trying to move towards astrophysics. I wanted to create an accurate solar system model using real-time accurate data. I've found the NASA data site, however I can only ...
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### Is it pure luck that the voyager 1 survived to travel beyond our solar system in interstellar space?

A random question. At the very first try we succeeded. Though it might not be strange, What was the probability of surviving so long with so many external variables and constants.?
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### Are there any other options for human settlements in the solar system other than Mars? [closed]

A lot has been said about human settlements on Mars. However, are there any other options? I'm wondering what other planets/moons/asteroids would be good for settling — where else could humans set up ...
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### Do the planets really orbit the Sun?

We often say that the planets orbit the Sun, which is usually a reasonable approximation. But in reality both Sun and the planets orbit the center-of-mass/center-of-gravity of the whole solar system, ...
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### What is the largest body in the solar system we could meaningfully and accurately adjust the orbit of?

There is a lot of science fiction and emerging science that move comet and asteroids as part of the main plot. Pretty much everything in our solar system, is in orbit around the Sun, or in orbit ...
886 views

### How much do we know about minerals and raw materials that are in our solar system?

Based on satellite and robots research, is there an overview/inventory of mineral resources that has been discovered till now on the planets, moons, asteroids and comets of our solar system (e.g. list,...
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I know star trackers are used in most cases for attitude determination of space craft traveling within the solar system. But what methods are currently used for coordinate determination, i.e. the ...
899 views

### How do we know that Voyager's data is correct?

I was wondering for some time how we know that the scientific data received by the Voyager spacecrafts are correct? Specifically, I'm wondering about the recent "tsunami-wave" (frequency of ionized ...
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### How does the recent discovery of “microbes living 2,400m beneath the seabed off Japan” impact the search for life in our solar system?

A recent BBC news article reports on finding microbes living 2,400m beneath the seabed off Japan The team found that microbes, despite having no light, no oxygen, barely any water and very limited ...
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### The farthest man-made object [duplicate]

What is the man-made object which is currently the farthest from our planet? Where is it in this very moment?
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### How do we measure the atmospheres of Solar system planets?

How much is it possible to measure from Earth and how accurately without sending probes to the planets? I am curious about how atmospheric boundary (altitude), atmospheric pressure, scale height were ...
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### Is our technology advanced enough to start asteroid mining? [duplicate]

Here is a comparison of nearby asteroids with their worth in US Dollars. Does our technology have the capability to reach any of these asteroids and bring back enough of the materials to be considered ...
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### How are artificial satellites of non-Earth celestial bodies positioned?

A body on Earth's surface can be positioned easily knowing the GPS coordinates, assuming the body is in direct path or 4 GPS satellites. But how is a satellite (say Maven or India's Mangalyaan) which ...
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### Has there been any mission to land on a planet or moon in the Outer Solar System?

Are there any planets or moons in the Outer Solar System, where a man-made object has landed and made photographs of its surface? I can remember an article somewhere that said there's only one moon ...