What Planet Reflects Best ??

I'm thinking light bouncing off their surface. The moon has a
white surface,and white is a good reflector. Little far away Pluto is
made of ice water is a good reflector etc. Are gas planets good
reflectors.? Are the cloud cover of Venus a good reflector? Have not
found the answer to this in any books. Bert

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking light bouncing off their surface. The moon has a
white surface,and white is a good reflector. Little far away Pluto is
made of ice water is a good reflector etc. Are gas planets good
reflectors.? Are the cloud cover of Venus a good reflector? Have not
found the answer to this in any books. Bert


First of all the moon is not a planet... so thats out!
I would say that if given all planets being equal distance to the sun and
the same size that the earth or pluto would reflect best due to their water
based surfaces. Or perhaps mercury due to its silicate surface? I dont think
that a gaseous planet would reflect better due to the absorbtion of light in
the gases, however if you don't consider all planets being the same size I
would guess that jupiter would be most luminous due to its size and gas
composition but it wouldn't reflect better than a smaller silicate or water
based planet? Luminousity and reflectivity are very different concepts. So
my guess would be earth or pluto...
anyone else have any other ideas on which would reflect better?

In message , mumblin-joe
writes

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking light bouncing off their surface. The moon has a
white surface,and white is a good reflector. Little far away Pluto is
made of ice water is a good reflector etc. Are gas planets good
reflectors.? Are the cloud cover of Venus a good reflector? Have not
found the answer to this in any books. Bert


First of all the moon is not a planet... so thats out!
I would say that if given all planets being equal distance to the sun and
the same size that the earth or pluto would reflect best due to their water
based surfaces. Or perhaps mercury due to its silicate surface? I dont think
that a gaseous planet would reflect better due to the absorbtion of light in
the gases, however if you don't consider all planets being the same size I
would guess that jupiter would be most luminous due to its size and gas
composition but it wouldn't reflect better than a smaller silicate or water
based planet? Luminousity and reflectivity are very different concepts. So
my guess would be earth or pluto...

Why not try doing some reading first? Mercury actually has the lowest
albedo of any planet, and the gas giants such as Jupiter reflect more
than the terrestrial planets. Earth and Pluto are in the middle of the
range.
--
"Roads in space for rockets to travel....four-dimensional roads, curving with
relativity"
Mail to jsilverlight AT merseia.fsnet.co.uk is welcome.
Or visit Jonathan's Space Site http://www.merseia.fsnet.co.uk

In message , David Knisely
writes
Hi Bert. You posted:

I'm thinking light bouncing off their surface. The moon has a
white surface,and white is a good reflector. Little far away Pluto is
made of ice water is a good reflector etc. Are gas planets good
reflectors.? Are the cloud cover of Venus a good reflector? Have not
found the answer to this in any books.

Actually, the moon is more a grey color than white (it just looks nice
and white when compared to the dark of the surrounding sky). We
generally judge the reflectivity of a surface by a number known as the
"albedo". An albedo of "1.00" would be like a perfect reflecting
surface. The moon has an albedo of about 0.12, so its fairly dark as
bodies go.

The moon is "white" in the sense that it has no colour, surely? But
older books quote an albedo of 0.07. When was the figure redefined?
Albedo figures are _very_ easy to find - looks as though Bert's being
lazy again.
--
"Roads in space for rockets to travel....four-dimensional roads, curving with
relativity"
Mail to jsilverlight AT merseia.fsnet.co.uk is welcome.
Or visit Jonathan's Space Site http://www.merseia.fsnet.co.uk

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message...
...

I'm thinking light bouncing off their surface. The moon has a
white surface,and white is a good reflector. Little far away Pluto is
made of ice water is a good reflector etc. Are gas planets good
reflectors.? Are the cloud cover of Venus a good reflector? Have not
found the answer to this in any books. Bert

You'll get lots of hits from http://www.google.com with...

"planet albedo"

typed in the search field. "Albedo" just means "reflectivity."

hth

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
a Secret of the Universe...
so please don't breathe a word of this--
the Moon above will smile perverse
whene'er it sees two lovers kiss;
(breathe not a single word of this!)

Paine Ellsworth

"mumblin-joe" wrote...
in message ...

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message
...

I'm thinking light bouncing off their surface. The moon has a
white surface,and white is a good reflector. Little far away Pluto is
made of ice water is a good reflector etc. Are gas planets good
reflectors.? Are the cloud cover of Venus a good reflector? Have not
found the answer to this in any books. Bert

First of all the moon is not a planet . . .

Yes, the Moon *is* most definitely a planet!!!

'Lo MJ --

While astronomy has not yet recognized this "officially," there
is a growing base of astronomers (and astronomy lovers like
myself) who see Earth's companion as a full-fledged planet.

Even the well-known author, Isaac Asimov, believed that the
Moon's qualities are more planet-like than moon-like.

If you disagree, then if you like, you can list your reasons why
you think the Moon is not a planet, but just a mere satellite...

and i shall be glad to respond, hopefully with evidence that the
Moon deserves the ranking of planet, just like Earth, Mars and
the others.

The Earth and Moon make up a "binary planet system" quite
unique and unlike any other!

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
Eclipse! Eclipse! Oh red and tawny
Moon's mysterious glows,
Watch! soon our Moon again embrace
Earthshadow's ruddy flows.

'Tis Mars who sometimes ventures close
and sparks a bloody war
to end all wars and bring us peace,
that we may kill no more.

Paine Ellsworth

During a perfect moment of peace at Sat, 12 Jul 2003 15:23:34 GMT,
"Painius" interrupted with:

While astronomy has not yet recognized this "officially," there
is a growing base of astronomers (and astronomy lovers like
myself) who see Earth's companion as a full-fledged planet.

Care to provide a list of pro-Astronomers who think this way. Or an
official web page detailing this?

Even the well-known author, Isaac Asimov, believed that the
Moon's qualities are more planet-like than moon-like.

If you disagree, then if you like, you can list your reasons why
you think the Moon is not a planet, but just a mere satellite...

What is mere about it. First off you have to define planet and
satellite. Simple and crude definitions would be,

1. Planet (n) large object orbiting a star with enough self gravity to
become spherical.

2. Satellite (n) A smaller body orbiting a Planet.

Now starts the whole problem of The Moon being larger than some
planets. Plus the problem that some Satellites are larger than some
Planets.

and i shall be glad to respond, hopefully with evidence that the
Moon deserves the ranking of planet, just like Earth, Mars and
the others.

The big one (to me) is that it orbits us so it's a satellite.

The Earth and Moon make up a "binary planet system" quite
unique and unlike any other!

Except Pluto/Charon.

Hi there. You posted:

The moon is "white" in the sense that it has no colour, surely?

The moon is quite low in albedo. It has little color, but through the
telescope, the Maria are dark grey, and the highlands light grey to a
sort of off-white. If you look at a moon rock on display somewhere, its
color is generally somewhat of a light grey to dark grey as well. There
are areas which have a sort of reddish-brown coloration as well, but on
the whole, the moon is pretty much grey in color and not pure white.

But
older books quote an albedo of 0.07. When was the figure redefined?
Albedo figures are _very_ easy to find - looks as though Bert's being
lazy again.

There are several different types of albedo (the figure is probably the
Geometric Albedo), but the 0.12 figure comes from the 2003 issue of the
RASC Observer's Handbook. I went back and looked at an old 1987 issue
of that same publication, and it also gave a 0.12 figure. Clear skies
to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 10th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 27-Aug. 1st, 2003, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

Yes, the Moon *is* most definitely a planet!!!

Oh good grief, lets not start this thread again. No, the moon is not a
planet, since it does not orbit the sun independent of another larger
and more massive body. It is the natural satellite of the Earth.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 10th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 27-Aug. 1st, 2003, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

a question jonathan...
If you were to suspend a cotton ball and a black mirror in a blackened room
with both objects illuminated equally which would be : Brightest? Most
Luminous? and Reflect best?


"Jonathan Silverlight" wrote in message
...
In message , mumblin-joe
writes

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking light bouncing off their surface. The moon has a
white surface,and white is a good reflector. Little far away Pluto is
made of ice water is a good reflector etc. Are gas planets good
reflectors.? Are the cloud cover of Venus a good reflector? Have not
found the answer to this in any books. Bert


First of all the moon is not a planet... so thats out!
I would say that if given all planets being equal distance to the sun and
the same size that the earth or pluto would reflect best due to their
water
based surfaces. Or perhaps mercury due to its silicate surface? I dont
think
that a gaseous planet would reflect better due to the absorbtion of light
in
the gases, however if you don't consider all planets being the same size
I
would guess that jupiter would be most luminous due to its size and gas
composition but it wouldn't reflect better than a smaller silicate or
water
based planet? Luminousity and reflectivity are very different concepts.
So
my guess would be earth or pluto...

Why not try doing some reading first? Mercury actually has the lowest
albedo of any planet, and the gas giants such as Jupiter reflect more
than the terrestrial planets. Earth and Pluto are in the middle of the
range.
--
"Roads in space for rockets to travel....four-dimensional roads, curving
with
relativity"
Mail to jsilverlight AT merseia.fsnet.co.uk is welcome.
Or visit Jonathan's Space Site http://www.merseia.fsnet.co.uk