Planets in 2016
The following movies are available showing simulations of the paths of the planets amongst the stars and constellations, as seen from the Earth in the year 2016. Image quality is greatly superior when running simulations from within AstroGrav.
Mercury in 2016
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the path of the planet Mercury amongst the stars and constellations in the year 2016, as seen from the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and other planets are visible at some stages of the simulation.
Mercury reaches inferior conjunction on 14th January, greatest western elongation on 7th February, superior conjunction on 23rd March, greatest eastern elongation on 18th April, inferior conjunction on 9th May, greatest western elongation on 5th June, superior conjunction on 7th July, greatest eastern elongation on 16th August, inferior conjunction on 12th September, greatest western elongation on 28th September, superior conjunction on 27th October, greatest eastern elongation on 11th December, and inferior conjunction on 28th December. A rare transit of Mercury occurs at the inferior conjunction on 9th May.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.2 or better to use this simulation, and might need to change the time step in the evolution settings in order to get the simulation to run at an acceptable speed.
Venus in 2016
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the path of the planet Venus amongst the stars and constellations in the year 2016, as seen from the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and other planets are visible at some stages of the simulation.
Venus reaches superior conjunction on 6th June, but doesn't reach either greatest western elongation or greatest eastern elongation during 2016. Venus passes about 0.1 degrees from Saturn on 9th January, and passes about 0.1 degrees from Jupiter on 27th August.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.2 or better to use this simulation, and might need to change the time step in the evolution settings in order to get the simulation to run at an acceptable speed.
Mars in 2016
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the path of the planet Mars amongst the stars and constellations in the year 2016, as seen from the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and other planets are visible at some stages of the simulation.
Mars reaches opposition on 22nd May, but doesn't reach conjunction during 2016.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.2 or better to use this simulation, and might need to change the time step in the evolution settings in order to get the simulation to run at an acceptable speed.
Jupiter in 2016
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the path of the planet Jupiter amongst the stars and constellations in the year 2016, as seen from the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and other planets are visible at some stages of the simulation.
Jupiter reaches opposition on 8th March, and reaches conjunction on 26th September. Jupiter passes about 0.1 degrees from Venus on 27th August.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.2 or better to use this simulation, and might need to change the time step in the evolution settings in order to get the simulation to run at an acceptable speed.
Saturn in 2016
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the path of the planet Saturn amongst the stars and constellations in the year 2016, as seen from the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and other planets are visible at some stages of the simulation.
Saturn reaches opposition on 3rd June, and reaches conjunction on 10th December. Saturn passes about 0.1 degrees from Venus on 9th January.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.2 or better to use this simulation, and might need to change the time step in the evolution settings in order to get the simulation to run at an acceptable speed.
Uranus in 2016
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the path of the planet Uranus amongst the stars and constellations in the year 2016, as seen from the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and other planets are visible at some stages of the simulation.
Uranus reaches conjunction on 9th April, and reaches opposition on 15th October.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.2 or better to use this simulation, and might need to change the time step in the evolution settings in order to get the simulation to run at an acceptable speed.
Neptune in 2016
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the path of the planet Neptune amongst the stars and constellations in the year 2016, as seen from the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and other planets are visible at some stages of the simulation.
Neptune reaches conjunction on 28th February, and reaches opposition on 2nd September.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.2 or better to use this simulation, and might need to change the time step in the evolution settings in order to get the simulation to run at an acceptable speed.