Calendar

Past Activity

Walking Through The Solar System

  • Start date: 12/31/2017

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 12/31/2017

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

**Departs From: Day Island Road parking lot, Eugene**
WALKING THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM - Third annual New Years’ Eve day hike.
We will start by walking by Mars, then Earth/Moon, Venus , Mercury and the Sun. Then we will cross de Fazio Bridge and walk on the south bank of the Willamette out to Neptune and return. Those who wish to leave early can, but you have to see 5 planets to get hiking credit!!!!!!! [Note: if you see some in the morning sky before dawn, they count!!!!!] It’s a good way to see something unique and educational, created by Jack van Dusen, and one can leave at Valley River for lunch, should they get tired. Expected finish: Noon

  • Event Leader: Mike Smith

  • Event Leader Phone: 520-488-9569

  • Event Leader Email: mssq@comcast.net

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type: Urban

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating: Easy

  • Roundtrip total drive miles:

  • Season: 2018

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Wear: warmer clothes than you might wear for a hike, especially foot gear. This is NOT a fast walk, and we will stop periodically to discuss the planets. Because of the stops, it is easy for people to get cold.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 7

  • Member Fees: 1

  • Elevation Gain: 30

  • Non-Member Fees: 2

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

Twelve of us walked through the solar system on a cold, foggy day, "visiting" all the planets. I can't honestly say I was in my best explanatory form. I knew where all the planets were in the sky, that none except Mercury was visible to the unaided eye even on a clear night or dawn. I simply was not able to explain why we see them where we do. Here's a better summary: Planets rise and set because of the Earth's rotation. Because they move (the word planet comes from Greek "wanderer") they change position in the sky at night, unlike the "fixed" stars. {The stars move, too, and very fast, but they are so far away that even in our lifetime, we can't appreciate any change in their position.) The inner planets are Mercury and Venus. Because they are between the Earth and Sun, we see them only when the Sun has just set or is about to rise, in the evening and morning sky. Venus is very bright; Mercury can be seen if one knows where to look. The outer planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and when we on Earth pass them, they are closest to us, brightest for that passage, and visible all night long. They rise at sunset. After passage, or opposition, they rise a little earlier each night, until finally they rise and set with the Sun, and are behind the Sun. We call that superior conjunction. The planets keep rising earlier and are visible in the morning sky until they finally rise when the Sun is setting. The inner planets never do that, because in order to rise at sunset, they have to be outside the Earth's orbit, or the Earth has to be between them and the Sun. That never happens. Anyway, it was a nice New Years' Eve day hike with a good group!!