You are here:

Astronomy/Planetary distances

Advertisement

Expert: - 4/5/2007


Question
Hi Philip

Is there an online facility for finding out current distances of solar system planets from Earth? For example, I'm trying to find out how far away from us Venus is at the moment

Answer
Hello,

Unfortunately, I know of no sites that provide day-to-day updates of current distances of the planets. I do know there is a program called 'Astronomy Lab' that provides crude distances using a graph given over the year (you have to read off the graph to get the distance for a given date). But this is probably no where near the accuracy you want.

The only other step is to seek out an Astonomical Ephemeris - say at a local library. This will have all the day to day distances for all the planets.  You may also be able to purchase a copy online, say by googling 'Astronomical Ephemeris'.  The U.S. Naval Observatory generally publishes the most detailed, comprehensive one.

Astronomy

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Philip Stahl

Expertise

I have forty years of experience in Astronomy, specifically solar and space physics. My specialties include the physics of solar flares, sunspots, including their effects on Earth and statistics as applied to astronomical investigations.

Experience

Astronomy: more than forty years experience starting with construction of my own simple telescopes. Worked at university observatory in college, doing astrographic measurements. M.Phil. degree in Physics/Solar Physics and more than ten years as researcher.

Organizations
American Astronomical Society (Solar Physics and Dynamical Astronomy divisions), American Mathematical Society, American Geophysical Union

Publications
Solar Physics (journal), The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, The Proceedings of the Meudon Solar Flare Workshop (1986), The Proceedings of the Caribbean Physics Conference (1985). Books: 'Selected Analyses in Solar Flare Plasma Dynamics', 'Physics Notes for Advanced Level'.

Education/Credentials
B.A. Astronomy, M. Phil. Physics

Awards and Honors
American Astronomical Society Studentship Award (1984), Barbados Government Award for Solar Research

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.