jfribrg is correct. Neptune was first observed by Galileo on 28th December 1612. He was observing Jupiter and saw a 'star' nearby that he noticed had changed position over the following nights. He made a note in his book to follow up on the 'star', but never did (he was already in much strife with the church, imagine what would have happened if he claimed there was another planet, not able to be seen by the naked eye?). So Galileo was the first to observe Neptune, although he didn't know exactly what it was.

I don't see why Galileo wouldn't have known about Saturn, after all he was the first to see "ears" around the planet. :P

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I think they are around 2,000km/hour. Not sure the exact figure.

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he's just a lot closer than we are

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Sorry, I meant Saturn.

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#-o I meant Galileo wouldn't have known about Saturn....argh! :P

Nice pick up.

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close enough

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Yay, my turn then.

Which constellation is Pluto currently in?

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Serpens.

A few weeks ago I posted that it was close to Xi Serpentis, so considering how slowly it moves, I'd say it's still in Serpens.

Question: How many elements have been detected in the Sun by spectroscopy?

edit: would have beaten ksodbartman if I hadn't spent several minutes trying to come up with a good question!

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and, it'll be close again at Christmas, and next year Fourth of July

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Yup, it's in Serpens (Cauda) - and it's gonna be there all year. No idea about the spectroscopy question though. :-?

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I don't think the rules can be so stringent with different time zones and all, but it seems that, as C-Munch said, if no one answers for a while, someone should just look it up and ask a question themselves. Not a big deal, really, but I'm paying attention. :wink: That being said, Tobin Dax is still owed a Q & A:

There are 2 questions floating:

Tobin Dax:
What do cosmologists use for the "measuring stick" of the size of the universe at any given time? (In other words, what is the size of the universe 5 billion years ago or 7 billion years from now compared to if we want to describe it?) Hopefully that makes sense.

Eroica:
Question: How many elements have been detected in the Sun by spectroscopy?

C'mon ATP, clean 'em both up, and ask a question. :wink:

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but I have no idea about the answer to Eroica's question, as usual

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Ahh, good pick up Melusine. I'd totally forgot all about his question. ops: Guess I must have forgotten it cos I didn't know the answer. :P

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Heh, heh, this is how I keep things on track. Persistent bugger, aren't I? :wink: One or the other...2 questions need to be answered, though both should be looked up by now...

Tobin Dax:
What do cosmologists use for the "measuring stick" of the size of the universe at any given time? (In other words, what is the size of the universe 5 billion years ago or 7 billion years from now compared to if we want to describe it?) Hopefully that makes sense.

Eroica:
Question: How many elements have been detected in the Sun by spectroscopy?

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Eroica, is your question referring to the number of fraunhofer (bad spelling :P) lines in the sun's spectra? I'm don't know that much when it comes to spectroscopy. ops:

I'm not sure that Tobin Dax's question can really be 'looked up'...you either know it, or you gotta read a big long essay to find out. :P

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Tobin Dax:
What do cosmologists use for the "measuring stick" of the size of the universe at any given time? (In other words, what is the size of the universe 5 billion years ago or 7 billion years from now compared to if we want to describe it?) Hopefully that makes sense.

Is it a light year? I remember in Maths that to find the age of the universe, they use the hubble and see how far it can see. And because you need light to travel and hit the teloscope to see. You can tell how old/big the universe is.

At least i think so....... If that made any sence.

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I'd have guessed that, too....but I'm thinking that it's something much more complicted. #-o

Hey you get to learn about stuff like that in maths? That's awesome....we don't even learn about anything astronomy-related in any of my subjects (except for physics, of course ).

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