Myth vs Reality: Observing Change in the Solar System

 

 

 

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.

 

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA, ESA, and STScI except:

 

·       Amateur image of 2009 impact site on Jupiter courtesy of Anthony Wesley

·       Gemini North Telescope image of 2009 impact site on Jupiter courtesy of Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley), Heidi B. Hammel (Space Science Institute), Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Gemini Observatory/AURA

·       Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory

·       1879 photo of Jupiter and Great Red Spot from A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century by Agnes M. Clerk (1885)

·       2014 image of Jupiter and Great Red Spot courtesy of Damian Peach

·       Infrared images of Uranus from Keck Observatory courtesy of Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley)/Keck Observatory

·       Animation showing axial tilts of solar system planets courtesy of Steven Sanders, Eastern University

·       Animation comparing axial tilts of Earth and Uranus courtesy of Steven Sanders, Eastern University

 

 

Written by Vanessa Thomas

Designed by Marc Lussier

Music courtesy of Associated Production Music

 

 

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 Myth versus Reality, a constellation map with a horned bull, two planets. 

Myth, Planets and other objects in the Solar System do not change over human lifetimes. 

Reality, We can observe changes on planets, moons, and other objects in the Solar System. Clouds and storms pop up on planets with atmospheres. Geysers and volcanoes erupt from some moons in the outer solar system. Comets grow tails and can break up and disintegrate as they travel closer to the Sun. Asteroids and comets crash into planets, forming impact scars on the surfaces or cloud tops. The Sun releases sudden bursts of particles into space. Our solar system is a dynamic place.