|
Synodic Period Synodic period is the time it takes to catch up with a world. With outer planets such as Jupiter or beyond, it takes a little more than a year to catch up. You may notice that Jupiter has oppositions one month later each year than the previous. The one month is the additional time due to the movement of Jupiter itself it takes to catch up to the world. The longest synodic period is 779.94 days, for planet Mars. We must wait over two years to see Mars at it's best. Consequentially, Mars also has the greatest range of angular sizes and brightness of any planet. Mars can look smaller than Uranus when Mars is at its worst (3 arc seconds vs. 3.5 arc seconds) and can look larger than Saturn (excluding the rings) at its best (25 arc seconds vs. 19 arc seconds). Forward to Temperature |