Philippine E-Journals

Synodic Periods of Moons and Planets

Robert C. Roleda

Discipline: Astrophysics

 

Abstract:

Periods of moons and planets are often expressed relative to stars. Called the sidereal periods, these offer the advantage of expressing the quantities in common units, allowing for easy comparison. There are instances, however, when one might want to know the periods of moons and planets as seen from the planets themselves. For example, the Pathfinder mission to Mars require solar power for its various activities. Hence observations are taken only during Martian daytime. This paper presents ways of translating sidereal periods to synodic periods.