Appendices

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Appendix 1 The Planets: Orbital Data

Appendix 2 The Planets: Physical Data

*For Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the internal rotation period is given. A superscript R means that the rotation is retrograde (opposite the planet’s orbital motion).

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Table 28-3: Major Satellites of the Planets by Mass
Planet Satellite Date of discovery Average distance from center of planet (km) Orbital (sidereal) period (days)* Orbital eccentricity Size of satellite (km)** Mass (kg)
EARTH Moon — 384,400 27.322 0.0549 3476 7.349 × 1022
MARS Phobos 1877 9378 0.319 0.01 28 × 23 × 20 1.1 × 1022
Deimos 1877 23,460 1.263 0.00 16 × 12 × 10 1.1 × 1022
JUPITER Ganymede 1610 1,070,000 7.155 0.0011 5268 1.482 × 1023
Callisto 1610 1,883,000 16.689 0.0074 4800 1.077 × 1023
Io 1610 421,600 1.769 0.0041 3642 8.932 × 1022
Europa 1610 670,900 3.551 0.0094 3120 4.791 × 1022
Himalia 1904 11,461,000 250.56   0.1623 184 6.7 × 1018
Amalthea 1892 181,400 0.498 0.0031 270 × 200 × 155 2.1 × 1018
Elara 1905 11,741,000 259.64   0.2174 78 8.7 × 1017
Thebe 1979 221,900 0.675 0.0177 98 1.5 × 1018
Pasiphaë 1908 23,624,000 743.63R 0.4090 58 3.0 × 1017
Carme 1938 23,404,000 734.17R 0.2533 46 1.3 × 1017
SATURN Titan 1655 1,221,870 15.95   0.0288 5150 1.34 × 1023
Rhea 1672 527,070 4.518 0.001 1528 2.3 × 1021
Iapetus 1671 3,560,840 79.33 0.0283 1472 2.0 × 1021
Dione 1684 377,420 2.737 0.0022 1123 1.1 × 1021
Tethys 1684 294,670 1.888 0.0001 1066 6.2 × 1020
Enceladus 1789 238,040 1.37   0.0047 504 1.1 × 1020
Mimas 1789 185,540 0.942 0.0196 397 3.8 × 1019
Phoebe 1898 12,947,780 550.31R 0.1635 230 × 220 × 210 8.3 × 1018
Hyperion 1848 1,500,880 21.28   0.0274 360 × 280 × 225 5.7 × 1018
Janus 1980 151,460 0.695 0.0068 193 × 173 × 137 1.9 × 1018
URANUS Titania 1787 436,300 8.706 0.0011 1578 3.53 × 1021
Oberon 1787 583,500 13.46 0.0014 1522 3.01 × 1021
Ariel 1851 190,900 2.52   0.0012 1158 1.35 × 1021
umbriel 1851 266,000 4.144 0.0039 1169 1.2 × 1021
Miranda 1948 129,900 1.413 0.0013 471 6.59 × 1019
Puck 1985 86,000 0.762 0.0001 162 2.9 × 1018
Sycorax 1997 12,179,000 1288.3R 0.5224 150 5.4 × 1018
Portia 1986 66,100 0.513 0.0001 156 × 126 1.7 × 1018
Juliet 1986 64,400 0.493 0.0007 150 × 74 5.6 × 1017
Belinda 1986 75,300 0.624 0.0001 128 × 64 3.6 × 1017
NEPTUNE Triton 1846 354,800 5.877R 0 2706 2.15 × 1022
Proteus 1989 117,647 1.122 0.0005 440 × 416 × 404 4.4 3 1019
Nereid 1949 5,513,400 360.14   0.7512 340 3.1 × 1019
Larissa 1989 73,548 0.555 0.0014 216 × 204 × 164 4.2 × 1018
Galatea 1989 61,953 0.429 0 204 × 184 × 144 2.1 × 1018
Despina 1989 52,526 0.335 0.0002 180 × 150 × 130 2.1 × 1018
Thalassa 1989 50,075 0.311 0.0002 108 × 100 × 52 3.5 × 1017
Naiad 1989 48,227 0.294 0.0004 96 × 60 × 52 1.9 × 1017
Halimede 2002 15,728,000 1879.71R 0.5711 62 1.8 × 1017
Neso 2002 22,422,000 2914.07   0.2931 44 6.3 × 1016
This table was compiled from data provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
*A superscript R means that the satellite orbits in a retrograde direction (opposite to the planet’s rotation).
**The size of a spherical satellite is equal to its diameter.

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Appendix 4 The Nearest Stars

This table, compiled from data reported by the Research Consortium on Nearby Stars, lists all known stars within 4.00 parsecs (13.05 light-years).

*Stars that are components of multiple star systems are labeled A, B, and C.

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Appendix 5 The Visually Brightest Stars

Data in this table were compiled from SIMBAD database operated at the Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg, France.

*A positive radial velocity means that the star is receding; a negative radial velocity means that the star is approaching.

**This is a ratio of the star’s apparent brightness to that of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

Note: Acrux, or α Cru (the brightest star in Crux, the Southern Cross) appears to the naked eye as a star of apparent magnitude +0.87, the same as Aldebaran. However, it does not appear in this table because Acrux is actually a binary star system. The blue-white component stars of this binary system have apparent magnitudes of +1.4 and +1.9, and so they are dimmer than any of the stars listed here.

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Appendix 7 Some Important Physical Constants

Appendix 6 Some Important Astronomical Quantities

Appendix 8 Some Useful Mathematics