document_title: Flag of the United States

question_text: when did the us flag change from 13 stars

question_tokens: when did the us flag change from 13 stars

root

text: Flag of the United States

text: History

text: The current design of the U.S. flag is its 27th; the design of the flag has been modified officially 26 times since 1777. The 48-star flag was in effect for 47 years until the 49-star version became official on July 4, 1959. The 50-star flag was ordered by the then president Eisenhower on August 21, 1959, and was adopted in July 1960. It is the longest-used version of the U.S. flag and has been in use for over 57 years.[4]

tag: p

text: First flag

text:
The Continental Colors
(aka the "Grand Union Flag")

Flag of the British East India Company, 1707–1801

text: At the time of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the Continental Congress would not legally adopt flags with "stars, white in a blue field" for another year. The flag contemporaneously known as "the Continental Colors" has historically been referred to as the first national flag.[5]

text: The Continental Navy raised the Colors as the ensign of the fledgling nation in the American War for Independence—likely with the expedient of transforming their previous British red ensigns by adding white stripes—and would use this flag until 1777, when it would form the basis for the subsequent de jure designs.[5][6]

text: The name "Grand Union" was first applied to the Continental Colors by George Preble in his 1872 history of the American flag.[6]

text: The flag closely resembles the British East India Company flag of the era, and Sir Charles Fawcett argued in 1937 that the company flag inspired the design.[7] Both flags could have been easily constructed by adding white stripes to a British Red Ensign, one of the three maritime flags used throughout the British Empire at the time. However, an East India Company flag could have from nine to 13 stripes, and was not allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean.[8]

text: In any case, both the stripes (barry) and the stars (mullets) have precedents in classical heraldry. Mullets were comparatively rare in early modern heraldry, but an example of mullets representing territorial divisions predating the U.S. flag are those in the coat of arms of Valais of 1618, where seven mullets stood for seven districts.

text: The Flag Resolution of 1777

text: On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."[9] Flag Day is now observed on June 14 of each year. While scholars still argue about this, tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in June 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment.[10]

text: The first official U.S. flag flown during battle was on August 3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler (Fort Stanwix) during the Siege of Fort Stanwix. Massachusetts reinforcements brought news of the adoption by Congress of the official flag to Fort Schuyler. Soldiers cut up their shirts to make the white stripes; scarlet material to form the red was secured from red flannel petticoats of officers' wives, while material for the blue union was secured from Capt. Abraham Swartwout's blue cloth coat. A voucher is extant that Capt. Swartwout of Dutchess County was paid by Congress for his coat for the flag.[11]

text: The 1777 resolution was most probably meant to define a naval ensign. In the late 18th century, the notion of a national flag did not yet exist, or was only nascent. The flag resolution appears between other resolutions from the Marine Committee. On May 10, 1779, Secretary of the Board of War Richard Peters expressed concern "it is not yet settled what is the Standard of the United States."[12] However, the term, "Standard," referred to a national standard for the Army of the United States. Each regiment was to carry the national standard in addition to its regimental standard. The national standard was not a reference to the national or naval flag.[13]

text: The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement, number of points, nor orientation for the stars and the arrangement or whether the flag had to have seven red stripes and six white ones or vice versa.[14] The appearance was up to the maker of the flag. Some flag makers arranged the stars into one big star, in a circle or in rows and some replaced a state's star with its initial.[15] One arrangement features 13 five-pointed stars arranged in a circle, with the stars arranged pointing outwards from the circle (as opposed to up), the so-called Betsy Ross flag. This flag, however, is more likely a flag used for celebrations of anniversaries of the nation's birthday. Experts have dated the earliest known example of this flag to be 1792 in a painting by John Trumbull.[16]

text: Despite the 1777 resolution, the early years of American independence featured many different flags. Most were individually crafted rather than mass-produced. While there are many examples of 13-star arrangements, some of those flags included blue stripes as well as red and white. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, in a letter dated October 3, 1778, to Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, described the American flag as consisting of "13 stripes, alternately red, white, and blue, a small square in the upper angle, next the flag staff, is a blue field, with 13 white stars, denoting a new Constellation."[17] John Paul Jones used a variety of 13-star flags on his U.S. Navy ships including the well-documented 1779 flags of the Serapis and the Alliance. The Serapis flag had three rows of eight-pointed stars with stripes that were red, white, and blue. The flag for the Alliance, however, had five rows of eight-pointed stars with 13 red and white stripes, and the white stripes were on the outer edges.[18] Both flags were documented by the Dutch government in October 1779, making them two of the earliest known flags of 13 stars.[19]

text: Designer of the first stars and stripes

text: Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey, a naval flag designer, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, designed the 1777 flag[20] while he was the Chairman of the Continental Navy Board's Middle Department, sometime between his appointment to that position in November 1776 and the time that the flag resolution was adopted in June 1777. The Navy Board was under the Continental Marine Committee.[21] Not only did Hopkinson claim that he designed the U.S. flag, but he also claimed that he designed a flag for the U.S. Navy. Hopkinson was the only person to have made such a claim during his own lifetime, when he sent a letter and several bills to Congress for his work. These claims are documented in the Journals of the Continental Congress and George Hasting's biography of Hopkinson. Hopkinson initially wrote a letter to Congress, via the Continental Board of Admiralty, on May 25, 1780.[22] In this letter, he asked for a "Quarter Cask of the Public Wine" as payment for designing the U.S. flag, the seal for the Admiralty Board, the seal for the Treasury Board, Continental currency, the Great Seal of the United States, and other devices. However, in three subsequent bills to Congress, Hopkinson asked to be paid in cash, but he did not list his U.S. flag design. Instead, he asked to be paid for designing the "great Naval Flag of the United States" in the first bill; the "Naval Flag of the United States" in the second bill; and "the Naval Flag of the States" in the third, along with the other items. The flag references were generic terms for the naval ensign that Hopkinson had designed, that is, a flag of seven red stripes and six white ones. The predominance of red stripes made the naval flag more visible against the sky on a ship at sea. By contrast, Hopkinson's flag for the United States had seven white stripes, and six red ones – in reality, six red stripes laid on a white background.[23] Hopkinson's sketches have not been found, but we can make these conclusions because Hopkinson incorporated different stripe arrangements in the Admiralty (naval) Seal that he designed in the Spring of 1780 and the Great Seal of the United States that he proposed at the same time. His Admiralty Seal had seven red stripes;[24] whereas, his second U.S. Seal proposal had seven white ones.[25] Hopkinson's flag for the Navy is the one that the Nation preferred as the national flag. Remnants of Hopkinson's U.S. flag of seven white stripes can be found in the Great Seal of the United States and the President's seal.[23] When Hopkinson was chairman of the Navy Board, his position was like that of today's Secretary of the Navy.[26] The payment was not made, however, because it was determined he had already received a salary as a member of Congress.[27][28] This contradicts the legend of the Betsy Ross flag, which suggests that she sewed the first Stars and Stripes flag by request of the government in the Spring of 1776.[29][30] Furthermore, a letter from the War Board to George Washington on May 10, 1779, documents that there was still no design established for a national flag for the Army's use in battle.[31]

text: The origin of the stars and stripes design has been muddled by a story disseminated by the descendants of Betsy Ross. The apocryphal story credits Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch handed to her by George Washington. No evidence for this exists either in the diaries of George Washington nor in the records of the Continental Congress. Indeed, nearly a century passed before Ross' grandson, William Canby, first publicly suggested the story in 1870.[32] By her family's own admission, Ross ran an upholstery business, and she had never made a flag as of the supposed visit in June 1776.[33] Furthermore, her grandson admitted that his own search through the Journals of Congress and other official records failed to find corroboration of his grandmother's story.[34]

text: The family of Rebecca Young claimed that she sewed the first flag.[35] Young's daughter was Mary Pickersgill, who made the Star Spangled Banner Flag.[36][37] According to rumor, the Washington family coat of arms, shown in a 15th-century window of Selby Abbey, was the origin of the stars and stripes.[38]

text: Later flag acts

text: In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 (to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as states of the Union). For a time the flag was not changed when subsequent states were admitted, probably because it was thought that this would cause too much clutter. It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry", later known as "The Star Spangled Banner", which is now the American national anthem. The flag is currently on display in the exhibition, "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem" at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History in a two-story display chamber that protects the flag while it is on view.[39]

text: On April 4, 1818, a plan was passed by Congress at the suggestion of U.S. Naval Captain Samuel C. Reid[40] in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars, with a new star to be added when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would be reduced to 13 so as to honor the original colonies. The act specified that new flag designs should become official on the first July 4 (Independence Day) following admission of one or more new states. The most recent change, from 49 stars to 50, occurred in 1960 when the present design was chosen, after Hawaii gained statehood in August 1959. Before that, the admission of Alaska in January 1959 prompted the debut of a short-lived 49-star flag.[41]

text: Prior to the adoption of the 48-star flag in 1912, there was no official arrangement of the stars in the canton, although the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy used standardized designs. Throughout the 19th century there was an abundance of different star patterns, rectangular and circular.

text: On July 4, 2007, the 50-star flag became the version of the flag in longest use, surpassing the 48-star flag that was used from 1912 to 1959.

text: The "Flower Flag" arrives in Asia

text: The U.S. flag was brought to the city of Canton (Guǎngzhōu) in China in 1784 by the merchant ship Empress of China, which carried a cargo of ginseng.[42] There it gained the designation "Flower Flag" (Chinese: 花旗; pinyin: huāqí; Cantonese Yale: fākeì).[43] According to a pseudonymous account first published in the Boston Courier and later retold by author and U.S. naval officer George H. Preble:

text: When the thirteen stripes and stars first appeared at Canton, much curiosity was excited among the people. News was circulated that a strange ship had arrived from the further end of the world, bearing a flag "as beautiful as a flower." Every body went to see the kwa kee chuen [花旗船; Fākeìsyùhn], or "flower flagship." This name at once established itself in the language, and America is now called the kwa kee kwoh [花旗國; Fākeìgwok], the "flower flag country"—and an American, kwa kee kwoh yin [花旗國人; Fākeìgwokyàhn]—"flower flag countryman"—a more complimentary designation than that of "red headed barbarian"—the name first bestowed upon the Dutch.[44][45]

text: In the above quote, the Chinese words are written phonetically based on spoken Cantonese. The names given were common usage in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[46] Other Asian nations have equivalent terms for America, for example Vietnamese: Hoa Kỳ ("Flower Flag"). Chinese now refer to the United States as simplified Chinese: 美国; traditional Chinese: 美國; pinyin: Měiguó. Měi is short for Měilìjiān (simplified Chinese: 美利坚; traditional Chinese: 美利堅, phono-semantic matching of "American") and "guó" means "country", so this name is unrelated to the flag. However, the "flower flag" terminology persists in some places today: for example, American Ginseng is called simplified Chinese: 花旗参; traditional Chinese: 花旗參; literally: "flower flag ginseng" in Chinese, and Citibank, which opened a branch in China in 1902, is known as 花旗银行; "Flower Flag Bank".[46]

text: The U.S. flag took its first trip around the world in 1787–90 on board the Columbia.[43] William Driver, who coined the phrase "Old Glory", took the U.S. flag around the world in 1831–32.[43] The flag attracted the notice of Japanese when an oversized version was carried to Yokohama by the steamer Great Republic as part of a round-the-world journey in 1871.[47]

text: Historical progression of designs

text: In the following table depicting the 28 various designs of the United States flag, the star patterns for the flags are merely the usual patterns, often associated with the United States Navy. Canton designs, prior to the proclamation of the 48-star flag, had no official arrangement of the stars. Furthermore, the exact colors of the flag were not standardized until 1934.[48]

text:
Number of
stars
Number of
stripes
Design(s)
States represented
by new stars
Dates in use
Duration

0
13

Union Jack instead of stars, red and white stripes represent Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia
000000001775-12-03-0000December 3, 1775[49] – June 14, 1777
018 ! 1 1⁄2 years

13
13

Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia
000000001777-06-14-0000June 14, 1777 – May 1, 1795
215 !18 years

15
15

Vermont, Kentucky
000000001795-05-01-0000May 1, 1795 – July 3, 1818
278 !23 years

20
13

Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee
000000001818-07-04-0000July 4, 1818 – July 3, 1819
012 !1 year

21
13

Illinois
000000001819-07-04-0000July 4, 1819 – July 3, 1820
012 !1 year

23
13

Alabama, Maine
000000001820-07-04-0000July 4, 1820 – July 3, 1822
024 !2 years

24
13

Missouri
000000001822-07-04-0000July 4, 1822 – July 3, 1836
1831 term "Old Glory" coined
168 !14 years

25
13

Arkansas
000000001836-07-04-0000July 4, 1836 – July 3, 1837
012 !1 year

26
13

Michigan
000000001837-07-04-0000July 4, 1837 – July 3, 1845
096 !8 years

27
13

Florida
000000001845-07-04-0000July 4, 1845 – July 3, 1846
012 !1 year

28
13

Texas
000000001846-07-04-0000July 4, 1846 – July 3, 1847
012 !1 year

29
13

Iowa
000000001847-07-04-0000July 4, 1847 – July 3, 1848
012 !1 year

30
13

Wisconsin
000000001848-07-04-0000July 4, 1848 – July 3, 1851
036 !3 years

31
13

California
000000001851-07-04-0000July 4, 1851 – July 3, 1858
084 !7 years

32
13

Minnesota
000000001858-07-04-0000July 4, 1858 – July 3, 1859
012 !1 year

33
13

Oregon
000000001859-07-04-0000July 4, 1859 – July 3, 1861
024 !2 years

34
13

Kansas
000000001861-07-04-0000July 4, 1861 – July 3, 1863
024 !2 years

35
13

West Virginia
000000001863-07-04-0000July 4, 1863 – July 3, 1865
024 !2 years

36
13

Nevada
000000001865-07-04-0000July 4, 1865 – July 3, 1867
024 !2 years

37
13

Nebraska
000000001867-07-04-0000July 4, 1867 – July 3, 1877
120 !10 years

38
13

Colorado
000000001877-07-04-0000July 4, 1877 – July 3, 1890
156 !13 years

43
13

Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington
000000001890-07-04-0000July 4, 1890 – July 3, 1891
012 !1 year

44
13

Wyoming
000000001891-07-04-0000July 4, 1891 – July 3, 1896
060 !5 years

45
13

Utah
000000001896-07-04-0000July 4, 1896 – July 3, 1908
144 !12 years

46
13

Oklahoma
000000001908-07-04-0000July 4, 1908 – July 3, 1912
048 !4 years

48
13

Arizona, New Mexico
000000001912-07-04-0000July 4, 1912 – July 3, 1959
564 !47 years

49
13

Alaska
000000001959-07-04-0000July 4, 1959 – July 3, 1960
012 !1 year

50
13

Hawaii
000000001960-07-04-0000July 4, 1960 – present
590 !57 years

tag: table

text: Future of the flag

text: In the November 2012 U.S. election, Puerto Rico voted to become a U.S. state. However, the legitimacy of the result of this election was disputed.[50] On June 11, 2017, another referendum was held, this time with the result that 97% of voters in Puerto Rico voted for statehood, but it had a turnout of only 23%.[51][52] Similarly in November 2016, a statehood referendum was held in the District of Columbia where 86% of voters approved the proposal. If a new U.S. state were to be admitted, it would require a new design on the flag to accommodate the additional star.[53]

text: Symbolism

text: The modern meaning of the flag was forged in December 1860, when Major Robert Anderson moved the U.S. garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Author Adam Goodheart argues this was the opening move of the American Civil War, and the flag was used throughout northern states to symbolize American nationalism and rejection of secessionism.

text:
Before that day, the flag had served mostly as a military ensign or a convenient marking of American territory, flown from forts, embassies, and ships, and displayed on special occasions like American Independence day. But in the weeks after Major Anderson's surprising stand, it became something different. Suddenly the Stars and Stripes flew—as it does today, and especially as it did after the September 11 attacks in 2001—from houses, from storefronts, from churches; above the village greens and college quads. For the first time American flags were mass-produced rather than individually stitched and even so, manufacturers could not keep up with demand. As the long winter of 1861 turned into spring, that old flag meant something new. The abstraction of the Union cause was transfigured into a physical thing: strips of cloth that millions of people would fight for, and many thousands die for.
– Adam Goodheart.[54]

text: The flag of the United States is one of the nation's most widely recognized symbols. Within the United States, flags are frequently displayed not only on public buildings but on private residences. The flag is a common motif on decals for car windows, and clothing ornaments such as badges and lapel pins. Throughout the world the flag has been used in public discourse to refer to the United States.[citation needed]

text: The flag has become a powerful symbol of Americanism, and is flown on many occasions, with giant outdoor flags used by retail outlets to draw customers. Desecration of the flag is considered a public outrage, but remains protected as freedom of speech. Scholars have noted the irony that "[t]he flag is so revered because it represents the land of the free, and that freedom includes the ability to use or abuse that flag in protest".[55] In worldwide comparison, Testi noted in 2010 that the United States was not unique in adoring its banner, for the flags of Scandinavian countries are also "beloved, domesticated, commercialized and sacralized objects".[56]

text: Design

text: Creation

text: The man credited with designing the current 50 star American flag was Robert G. Heft. He was 17 years old at the time and created the flag design in 1958 as a high school class project while living with his grandparents in Ohio.[57] He received a B− on the project.[58] According to Heft, his history teacher honored their agreement to change his grade to an A after his design was selected.[59][60]

text: Specifications

text: The basic design of the current flag is specified by 4 U.S.C. § 1; 4 U.S.C. § 2 outlines the addition of new stars to represent new states. The specification gives the following values:

text:
Hoist (height) of the flag: A = 1.0
Fly (width) of the flag: B = 1.9[61]
Hoist (height) of the canton ("union"): C = 0.5385 (A × 7/13, spanning seven stripes)
Fly (width) of the canton: D = 0.76 (B × 2/5, two-fifths of the flag width)
E = F = 0.0538 (C/10, One-tenth of the height of the canton)
G = H = 0.0633 (D/12, One twelfth of the width of the canton)
Diameter of star: K = 0.0616 (L × 4/5, four-fifths of the stripe width, the calculation only gives 0.0616 if L is first rounded to 0.077)
Width of stripe: L = 0.0769 (A/13, One thirteenth of the flag height)

text: These specifications are contained in an executive order which, strictly speaking, governs only flags made for or by the U.S. federal government.[62] In practice, most U.S. national flags available for sale to the public have a different width-to-height ratio; common sizes are 2 × 3 ft. or 4 × 6 ft. (flag ratio 1.5), 2.5 × 4 ft. or 5 × 8 ft. (1.6), or 3 × 5 ft. or 6 × 10 ft. (1.667). Even flags flown over the U.S. Capitol for sale to the public through Representatives or Senators are provided in these sizes.[63] Flags that are made to the prescribed 1.9 ratio are often referred to as "G-spec" (for "government specification") flags.

text: Colors

text: The exact red, white, and blue colors to be used in the flag are specified with reference to the CAUS Standard Color Reference of America, 10th edition. Specifically, the colors are "White", "Old Glory Red", and "Old Glory Blue".[64] The CIE coordinates for the colors of the 9th edition of the Standard Color Card were formally specified in JOSA in 1946.[65] These colors form the standard for cloth, and there is no perfect way to convert them to RGB for display on screen or CMYK for printing. The "relative" coordinates in the following table were found by scaling the luminous reflectance relative to the flag's "white".

text:
Official colors[66]

Name
Absolute
Relative

CIELAB D65
Munsell

CIELAB D50
sRGB
GRACoL 2006

L*
a*
b*
H
V/C
L*
a*
b*
R
G
B
8-bit hex
C
M
Y
K

White

88.7
−0.2
5.4
2.5Y
8.8/0.7

100.0
0.0
0.0
1.000
1.000
1.000
#FFFFFF
.000
.000
.000
.000

Old Glory Red

33.9
51.2
24.7
5.5R
3.3/11.1

39.9
57.3
28.7
.698
.132
.203
#B22234
.196
1.000
.757
.118

Old Glory Blue

23.2
13.1
−26.4
8.2PB
2.3/6.1

26.9
11.5
−30.3
.234
.233
.430
#3C3B6E
.886
.851
.243
.122

text: As with the design, the official colors are only officially required for flags produced for the U.S. federal government, and other colors are often used for mass-market flags, printed reproductions, and other products intended to evoke flag colors. The practice of using more saturated colors than the official cloth is not new. As Taylor, Knoche, and Granville wrote in 1950: "The color of the official wool bunting [of the blue field] is a very dark blue, but printed reproductions of the flag, as well as merchandise supposed to match the flag, present the color as a deep blue much brighter than the official wool."[67]

text: Sometimes, Pantone Matching System (PMS) approximations to the flag colors are used. One set was given on the website of the U.S. embassy in London as early as 1998; the website of the U.S. embassy in Stockholm claimed in 2001 that those had been suggested by Pantone, and that the U.S. Government Printing Office preferred a different set. A third red was suggested by a California Military Department document in 2002.[68] In 2001, the Texas legislature specified that the colors of the Texas flag should be "(1) the same colors used in the United States flag; and (2) defined as numbers 193 (red) and 281 (dark blue) of the Pantone Matching System."[69]

text:
Pantone approximations[70]

Source
PMS

CIELAB D50
sRGB
GRACoL 2006

L*
a*
b*
R
G
B
8-bit hex
C
M
Y
K

Safe

100.0
0.0
0.0
1.000
1.000
1.000
#FFFFFF
.000
.000
.000
.000

U.S. Emb.,
London
193 C

42.1
64.4
26.7
.756
.076
.238
#C1133D
.165
1.000
.678
.063

281 C

15.4
7.0
−41.8
.000
.149
.388
#002663
1.000
.906
.388
.231

U.S. Emb.,
Stockholm
186 C

44.1
67.8
37.9
.800
.048
.185
#CC0C2F
.122
1.000
.796
.035

288 C

18.0
7.6
−50.3
.000
.172
.466
#002C77
1.000
.863
.357
.141

CA Mil. Dept.
200 C

41.1
64.2
30.8
.745
.051
.203
#BE0D34
.169
1.000
.749
.074

text: The 49- and 50-star unions

text: When Alaska and Hawaii were being considered for statehood in the 1950s, more than 1,500 designs were submitted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Although some of them were 49-star versions, the vast majority were 50-star proposals. At least three of these designs were identical to the present design of the 50-star flag.[71] At the time, credit was given by the executive department to the United States Army Institute of Heraldry for the design.

text: Of these proposals, one created by 17-year-old Robert G. Heft in 1958 as a school project received the most publicity. His mother was a seamstress, but refused to do any of the work for him. He originally received a B– for the project. After discussing the grade with his teacher, it was agreed (somewhat jokingly) that if the flag was accepted by Congress, the grade would be reconsidered. Heft's flag design was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation after Alaska and before Hawaii was admitted into the Union in 1959.[72] According to Heft, his teacher did keep to their agreement and changed his grade to an A for the project.[60] The 49- and 50-star flags were each flown for the first time at Fort McHenry on Independence Day, in 1959 and 1960 respectively.[60]

text: Decoration

text: Traditionally, the flag may be decorated with golden fringe surrounding the perimeter of the flag as long as it does not deface the flag proper. Ceremonial displays of the flag, such as those in parades or on indoor posts, often use fringe to enhance the appearance of the flag.

text: The first recorded use of fringe on a flag dates from 1835, and the Army used it officially in 1895. No specific law governs the legality of fringe, but a 1925 opinion of the attorney general addresses the use of fringe (and the number of stars) "... is at the discretion of the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy ..." as quoted from footnote in previous volumes of Title 4 of the United States Code law books and is a source for claims that such a flag is a military ensign not civilian. However, according to the Army Institute of Heraldry, which has official custody of the flag designs and makes any change ordered, there are no implications of symbolism in the use of fringe.[73] Several federal courts have upheld this conclusion,[74][75] most recently and forcefully in Colorado v. Drew, a Colorado Court of Appeals judgment that was released in May 2010.[76] Traditionally, the Army and Air Force use a fringed National Color for parade, color guard and indoor display, while the Sea Services (Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard) use a fringeless National Color for all occasions.

text: Display and use

text: The flag is customarily flown year-round at most public buildings, and it is not unusual to find private houses flying full-size (3 by 5 feet (0.91 by 1.52 m)) flags. Some private use is year-round, but becomes widespread on civic holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Presidents' Day, Flag Day, and on Independence Day. On Memorial Day it is common to place small flags by war memorials and next to the graves of U.S. war veterans. Also on Memorial Day it is common to fly the flag at half staff, until noon, in remembrance of those who lost their lives fighting in U.S. wars.

text: Flag etiquette

text: The United States Flag Code outlines certain guidelines for the use, display, and disposal of the flag. For example, the flag should never be dipped to any person or thing, unless it is the ensign responding to a salute from a ship of a foreign nation. This tradition may come from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where countries were asked to dip their flag to King Edward VII: the American flag bearer did not. Team captain Martin Sheridan is famously quoted as saying "this flag dips to no earthly king", though the true provenance of this quotation is unclear.[77][78]

text: The flag should never be allowed to touch the ground and, if flown at night, must be illuminated. If the edges become tattered through wear, the flag should be repaired or replaced. When a flag is so tattered that it can no longer serve as a symbol of the United States, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning. The American Legion and other organizations regularly conduct flag retirement ceremonies, often on Flag Day, June 14. (The Boy Scouts of America recommends that modern nylon or polyester flags be recycled instead of burned, due to hazardous gases being produced when such materials are burned.)[79]

text: The Flag Code prohibits using the flag "for any advertising purpose" and also states that the flag "should not be embroidered, printed, or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use".[80] Both of these codes are generally ignored, almost always without comment.

text: Section 8, entitled Respect For Flag states in part: "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery", and "No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform". Section 3 of the Flag Code[81] defines "the flag" as anything "by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag of the United States of America".

text: An additional part of Section 8 Respect For Flag, that is frequently violated at sporting events is part (c) "The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free."

text: Although the Flag Code is U.S. federal law, there is no penalty for a private citizen or group failing to comply with the Flag Code and it is not widely enforced—indeed, punitive enforcement would conflict with the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.[82] Passage of the proposed Flag Desecration Amendment would overrule legal precedent that has been established.

text: Display on vehicles

text: When the flag is affixed to the right side of a vehicle of any kind (e.g.: cars, boats, planes, any physical object that moves), it should be oriented so that the canton is towards the front of the vehicle, as if the flag were streaming backwards from its hoist as the vehicle moves forward. Therefore, U.S. flag decals on the right sides of vehicles may appear to be reversed, with the union to the observer's right instead of left as more commonly seen.

text: The flag has been displayed on every U.S. spacecraft designed for manned flight, including Mercury, Gemini, Apollo Command/Service Module, Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle. The flag also appeared on the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle used for Apollo. But since Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo were launched and landed vertically and were not capable of horizontal atmospheric flight as the Space Shuttle did on its landing approach, the "streaming" convention was not followed and these flags were oriented with the stripes running horizontally, perpendicular to the direction of flight.

text: Display on uniforms

text: On some U.S. military uniforms, flag patches are worn on the right shoulder, following the vehicle convention with the union toward the front. This rule dates back to the Army's early history, when both mounted cavalry and infantry units would designate a standard bearer, who carried the Colors into battle. As he charged, his forward motion caused the flag to stream back. Since the Stars and Stripes are mounted with the canton closest to the pole, that section stayed to the right, while the stripes flew to the left.[83] Several US military uniforms, such as flight suits worn by members of the United States Air Force and Navy, have the flag patch on the left shoulder.[84][85]

text: Other organizations that wear flag patches on their uniforms can have the flag facing in either direction. The congressional charter of the Boy Scouts of America stipulates that the uniforms should not imitate U.S. military uniforms; consequently, the flags are displayed on the right shoulder with the stripes facing front, the reverse of the military style.[86] Law enforcement officers often wear a small flag patch, either on a shoulder, or above a shirt pocket.

text: Every U.S. astronaut since the crew of Gemini 4 has worn the flag on the left shoulder of his or her space suit, with the exception of the crew of Apollo 1, whose flags were worn on the right shoulder. In this case, the canton was on the left.

text: Postage stamps

text: The flag did not appear on U.S. postal stamp issues until the Battle of White Plains Issue was released in 1926, depicting the flag with a circle of 13 stars. The 48-star flag first appeared on the General Casimir Pulaski issue of 1931, though in a small monochrome depiction. The first U.S. postage stamp to feature the flag as the sole subject was issued July 4, 1957, Scott catalog number 1094.[87] Since that time the flag has frequently appeared on U.S. stamps.

text: Display in museums

text: In 1907 Eben Appleton, New York stockbroker and grandson of Lieutenant Colonel George Armistead (the commander of Fort McHenry during the 1814 bombardment) loaned the Star Spangled Banner Flag to the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1912 he converted the loan to a gift. Appleton donated the flag with the wish that it would always be on view to the public. In 1994, the National Museum of American History determined that the Star Spangled Banner Flag required further conservation treatment to remain on public display. In 1998 teams of museum conservators, curators, and other specialists helped move the flag from its home in the Museum's Flag Hall into a new conservation laboratory. Following the reopening of the National Museum of American History on November 21, 2008, the flag is now on display in a special exhibition, "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem," where it rests at a 10 degree angle in dim light for conservation purposes.[39]

text: Places of continuous display

text: By presidential proclamation, acts of Congress, and custom, U.S. flags are displayed continuously at certain locations.

text:
Replicas of the Star Spangled Banner Flag (15 stars, 15 stripes) are flown at two sites in Baltimore, Maryland: Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine[88] and Flag House Square.[89]
Marine Corps War Memorial (Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima), Arlington, Virginia.[90]
The Battle Green in Lexington, Massachusetts, site of the first shots fired in the Revolution[91]
The White House, Washington, D.C.[92]
Fifty U.S. flags are displayed continuously at the Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.[93]

text:
At U.S. Customs and Border Protection Ports of Entry that are continuously open.[94]
A Civil War era flag (for the year 1863) flies above Pennsylvania Hall (Old Dorm) at Gettysburg College.[95] This building, occupied by both sides at various points of the Battle of Gettysburg, served as a lookout and battlefield hospital.
Grounds of the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge NHP, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania[96]
By custom, at the Maryland home, birthplace, and grave of Francis Scott Key; at the Worcester, Massachusetts war memorial; at the plaza in Taos, New Mexico (since 1861); at the United States Capitol (since 1918); and at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal A, Gate 17 and Boston Logan Airport's Terminal B, Gate 32 and Terminal C, Gate 19 in memoriam of the events of September 11, 2001.[97]
Slover Mountain (Colton Liberty Flag), in Colton, California. July 4, 1917, to circa 1952 & 1997 to 2012.[98][99][100][101]
At the ceremonial South Pole as one of the 12 flags representing the signatory countries of the original Antarctic Treaty.
On the Moon: six manned missions successfully landed at various locations and each had a flag raised at the site. Exhaust gases when the Ascent Stage launched to return the astronauts to their Command Module Columbia for return to Earth blew over the flag the Apollo 11 mission had placed.[102]

text: Particular days for display

text: The flag should especially be displayed at full staff on the following days:[103]

text:
January: 1 (New Year's Day), third Monday of the month (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), and 20 (Inauguration Day, once every four years, which, by tradition, is postponed to the 21st if the 20th falls on a Sunday)
February: 12 (Lincoln's birthday) and the third Monday (legally known as Washington's Birthday but more often called Presidents' Day)
March–April: Easter Sunday (date varies)
May: Second Sunday (Mothers Day), third Saturday (Armed Forces Day), and last Monday (Memorial Day; half-staff until noon)
June: 14 (Flag Day), third Sunday (Fathers Day)
July: 4 (Independence Day) and 27 (National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day)[104]
September: First Monday (Labor Day), 17 (Constitution Day), and last Sunday (Gold Star Mother's Day)[105]
October: Second Monday (Columbus Day) and 27 (Navy Day)
November: 11 (Veterans Day) and fourth Thursday (Thanksgiving Day)
December: 25 (Christmas Day)
and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States; the birthdays of states (date of admission); and on state holidays.[106]

text: Display at half-staff

text: The flag is displayed at half-staff (half-mast in naval usage) as a sign of respect or mourning. Nationwide, this action is proclaimed by the president; statewide or territory-wide, the proclamation is made by the governor. In addition, there is no prohibition against municipal governments, private businesses or citizens flying the flag at half-staff as a local sign of respect and mourning. However, many flag enthusiasts feel this type of practice has somewhat diminished the meaning of the original intent of lowering the flag to honor those who held high positions in federal or state offices. President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first proclamation on March 1, 1954, standardizing the dates and time periods for flying the flag at half-staff from all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels; other congressional resolutions and presidential proclamations ensued. However, they are only guidelines to all other entities: typically followed at state and local government facilities, and encouraged of private businesses and citizens.

text: To properly fly the flag at half-staff, one should first briefly hoist it top of the staff, then lower it to the half-staff position, halfway between the top and bottom of the staff. Similarly, when the flag is to be lowered from half-staff, it should be first briefly hoisted to the top of the staff.[107]

text: Federal statutes provide that the flag should be flown at half-staff on the following dates:

text:
May 15: Peace Officers Memorial Day (unless it is the third Saturday in May, Armed Forces Day, then full-staff)[108]
Last Monday in May: Memorial Day (until noon)
September 11: Patriot Day[109]
First Sunday in October: Start of Fire Prevention Week, in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service.[110][111]
December 7: National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day[112]
For 30 days: Death of a president or former president
For 10 days: Death of a vice president, Supreme Court chief justice/retired chief justice, or speaker of the House of Representatives.
From death until the day of interment: Supreme Court associate justice, member of the Cabinet, former vice president, president pro tempore of the Senate, or the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives. Also for federal facilities within a state or territory, for the governor.
On the day after the death: Senators, members of Congress, territorial delegates or the resident commissioner of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico

text: National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, on July 27, was formerly a day of half-staff observance until the law expired in 2003. In 2009, it became a day of full-staff observance.[104][113][114]

text: Folding for storage

text: Though not part of the official Flag Code, according to military custom, flags should be folded into a triangular shape when not in use. To properly fold the flag:

text:
Begin by holding it waist-high with another person so that its surface is parallel to the ground.
Fold the lower half of the stripe section lengthwise over the field of stars, holding the bottom and top edges securely.
Fold the flag again lengthwise with the blue field on the outside.
Make a rectangular fold then a triangular fold by bringing the striped corner of the folded edge to meet the open top edge of the flag, starting the fold from the left side over to the right.
Turn the outer end point inward, parallel to the open edge, to form a second triangle.
The triangular folding is continued until the entire length of the flag is folded in this manner (usually thirteen triangular folds, as shown at right). On the final fold, any remnant that does not neatly fold into a triangle (or in the case of exactly even folds, the last triangle) is tucked into the previous fold.
When the flag is completely folded, only a triangular blue field of stars should be visible.

tag: ol

text: There is also no specific meaning for each fold of the flag. However, there are scripts read by non-government organizations and also by the Air Force that are used during the flag folding ceremony. These scripts range from historical timelines of the flag to religious themes.[115][116]

text: Use in funerals

text: Traditionally, the flag of the United States plays a role in military funerals,[117] and occasionally in funerals of other civil servants (such as law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and U.S. presidents). A burial flag is draped over the deceased's casket as a pall during services. Just prior to the casket being lowered into the ground, the flag is ceremonially folded and presented to the deceased's next of kin as a token of respect.[118]

text: Related flags

text:
The flag of Bikini Atoll is symbolic of the islanders' belief that a great debt is still owed to the people of Bikini because in 1954 the United States government detonated a thermonuclear bomb on the island as part of the Castle Bravo test.[119]
The flag of Liberia bears a close resemblance, showing the ex-American-slave origin of the country.[120] The Liberian flag has 11 similar red and white stripes, which stand for the 11 signers of the Liberian Declaration of Independence, as well as a blue square with only a single large white star for the canton. The flag of Liberia is the only flag in the world that was modeled after and resembles the American flag because Liberia was the only nation in the world that was founded, colonized, established, and controlled by freed African American and ex-caribbean slaves as settlers who came from the United States and the Caribbean islands as a homeland to live, with the help and support from the American Colonization Society on January 7, 1822.
Despite Malaysia having no historical connections with the U.S., the flag of Malaysia greatly resembles the U.S. flag. It is possible that the flag of the British East India Company influenced both the Malaysian and U.S. flag.[7]
The flag of El Salvador from 1865 to 1912. A different flag was in use, based on the flag of the United States, with a field of alternating blue and white stripes and a red canton containing white stars.[citation needed]
The flag of Brittany was inspired in part by the American flag.[citation needed]

text: Gallery of related flags

text:
Flag of Bikini Atoll

Flag of Liberia

Flag of Malaysia

Flag of El Salvador 1875–1912

Flag of Brittany


document_title: Extraterrestrial skies

question_text: how big is the sun in mercury's sky

question_tokens: how big is the sun in mercury 's sky

text: Extraterrestrial skies

text: Luminosity and angular diameter of the Sun[edit]

text: The Sun's apparent magnitude changes according to the inverse square law, therefore, the difference in magnitude as a result of greater or lesser distances from different celestial bodies can be predicted by the following formula:

text: Where "distance" can be in km, AU or any other appropiate unit.

text: To illustrate, since Pluto is 40 AU away from the Sun on average, it follows that the parent star would appear to be 1600 times dimmer than it is on Earth.

text: Though a terrestrial observer would find a dramatic decrease in available sunlight in these environments, the Sun would still be bright enough to cast shadows even as far as the hypothetical Planet Nine, possibly located 1200 AU away, and would still outshine the full Moon.

text: Furthermore, the angular diameter of the sun varies according to the following formula:

text: The angular diameter of a circle whose plane is perpendicular to the displacement vector between the point of view and the centre of said circle can be calculated using the formula[1]

text:
in which

δ

{\displaystyle \delta }

 is the angular diameter, and

d

{\displaystyle d}

 and

D

{\displaystyle D}

 are the actual diameter of and the distance to the object. When

D
≫
d

{\displaystyle D\gg d}

, we have

δ
≈
d

/

D

{\displaystyle \delta \approx d/D}

, and the result obtained is in radians.

text:
For a spherical object whose actual diameter equals

d

a
c
t

,

{\displaystyle d_{\mathrm {act} },}

 and where

D

{\displaystyle D}

 is the distance to the centre of the sphere, the angular diameter can be found by the formula

text:
The difference is due to the fact that the apparent edges of a sphere are its tangent points, which are closer to the observer than the centre of the sphere. For practical use, the distinction is only significant for spherical objects that are relatively close, since the small-angle approximation holds for

x
≪
1

{\displaystyle x\ll 1}

:[2]

text: Differences in how the sun appears can be visualized with this chart:

text: Horizon[edit]

text: On terrestrial planets and other solid celestial bodies with negligible atmospheric effects, the distance to the horizon for a "standard observer" varies as the square root of the planet's radius. Thus, the horizon on Mercury is 62% as far away from the observer as it is on Earth, on Mars the figure is 73%, on the Moon the figure is 52%, on Mimas the figure is 18%, and so on. For smaller, non-spherical objects, the observer's height must be taken into account when calculating the distance to the horizon.

text: Mercury[edit]

text: Because Mercury has little or no atmosphere, a view of the planet's skies would be no different from viewing space from orbit. Mercury has a southern pole star, α Pictoris, a magnitude 3.2 star. It is fainter than Earth's Polaris (α Ursae Minoris).[3]

text: The Sun from Mercury[edit]

text: On average, the visible diameter of the Sun on Mercury is 2.5 times as large as it appears from Earth, and its total brightness is more than 6 times as great. Because of the planet's eccentric orbit, the Sun's apparent size in the sky would vary from 2.2 times that from Earth at aphelion (with total brightness 4.8 times as great), to 3.2 times at perihelion (with total brightness 10.2 times as great).

text: Mercury has a 3:2 spin–orbit resonance. This means that although a sidereal day (the period of rotation) lasts around 58.7 Earth days, a solar day (the length between two meridian transits of the Sun) lasts around 176 Earth days. (In contrast, the difference between Earth's sidereal and solar days is only 4 minutes.)

text: The large eccentricity of Mercury's orbit coupled with the long length of a Mercurian day results in an unusual effect in which the Sun appears to briefly reverse its usual east-to-west motion once every Mercurian year. The on-sky distance over which the Sun appears to be travelling in this reversed (west-to-east) direction is slightly larger than the apparent size of the Sun itself. Thus, while the effect is visible wherever one happens to be on Mercury, there are certain points on Mercury's surface where an observer would be able to see the Sun rise, reverse and set, and then rise again, all within the same Mercurian day.[4]

text: The apparent motion reverses because approximately four (Earth) days prior to perihelion, the angular speed of Mercury's orbit exactly equals its rotational velocity, so that the Sun's apparent motion ceases. At perihelion, Mercury's orbital angular velocity slightly exceeds the rotational velocity, so the Sun appears to be retrograde. Four days after perihelion, the Sun's normal apparent motion resumes. Because of its spin–orbit resonance, Mercury presents one of two spots of its surface to the Sun on alternate perihelia. One of these subsolar points is Caloris Planitia ("hot basin"), appropriately named because an observer near its centre would see the Sun loop around the zenith once per Mercurian day, and hence experience a very hot day indeed.

text: Other planets seen from Mercury[edit]

text: After the Sun, the second-brightest object in the Mercurian sky is Venus, which is much brighter than for terrestrial observers. The reason for this is that when Venus is closest to Earth, it is between the Earth and the Sun, so we see only its night side. Indeed, even when Venus is brightest in the Earth's sky, we are actually seeing only a narrow crescent. For a Mercurian observer, on the other hand, Venus is closest when it is in opposition to the Sun and is showing its full disk. The apparent magnitude of Venus is as bright as −7.7.[5]

text: The Earth and the Moon are also very prominent, their apparent magnitudes being about −5[5] and −1.2, respectively. The maximum apparent distance between the Earth and the Moon is about 15′. All other planets are visible just as they are on Earth, but somewhat less bright at opposition.

text: The zodiacal light is probably more prominent than it is from Earth.

text: Venus[edit]

text: The atmosphere of Venus is so thick that the Sun is not distinguishable in the daytime sky, and the stars are not visible at night. Color images taken by the Soviet Venera probes suggest that the sky on Venus is orange.[6] If the Sun could be seen from Venus's surface, the time from one sunrise to the next (a solar day) would be 116.75 Earth days. Because of Venus's retrograde rotation, the Sun would appear to rise in the west and set in the east.[7]

text: An observer aloft in Venus's cloud tops, on the other hand, would whip around the planet in about four (Earth) days and be treated to a sky in which Earth and the Moon shine brightly (about magnitudes −6.6[5] and −2.7, respectively) because their maximum approach occurs at opposition. Mercury would also be easy to spot, because it is closer and brighter, at up to magnitude −2.7,[5] and because its maximum elongation from the Sun is considerably larger (40.5°) than when observed from Earth (28.3°).

text: The Moon[edit]

text: The Moon has no atmosphere, so its sky is always black, as in the case of Mercury. However, the Sun is so bright that it is impossible to see stars during the daytime, unless the observer is well shielded from sunlight (direct or reflected from the ground). The Moon has a southern polar star, δ Doradus, a magnitude 4.34 star. It is better aligned than Earth's Polaris (α Ursae Minoris), but much fainter.

text: The Sun from the Moon[edit]

text: The Sun looks the same from the Moon as it does from Earth's orbit, somewhat brighter than it does from the Earth's surface, and colored pure white, due to the lack of atmospheric scattering and absorption.

text: Since the Moon's axial tilt relative to its orbit around the Sun is nearly zero, the Sun traces out almost exactly the same path through the Moon's sky over the course of a year. As a result, there are craters and valleys near the Moon's poles that never receive direct sunlight, and there may exist mountains and hilltops that are never in shadow (see Lunar south pole and Peak of eternal light).

text: The Earth from the Moon[edit]

text: Among the most prominent features of the Moon's sky is Earth. Earth's angular diameter (1.9°) is four times the Moon's as seen from Earth, although because the Moon's orbit is eccentric, Earth's apparent size in the sky varies by about 5% either way (ranging between 1.8° and 2.0° in diameter). Earth shows phases, just like the Moon does for terrestrial observers. The phases, however, are opposite; when the terrestrial observer sees the full Moon, the lunar observer sees a "new Earth", and vice versa. Earth's albedo is three times as high as that of the Moon (due in part to its whitish cloud cover), and coupled with the wider area, the full Earth glows over 50 times brighter than the full Moon at zenith does for the terrestrial observer. This Earth light reflected on the Moon's un-sunlit half is bright enough to be visible from Earth, even to the unaided eye – a phenomenon known as earthshine.

text: As a result of the Moon's synchronous rotation, one side of the Moon (the "near side") is permanently turned towards Earth, and the other side, the "far side", mostly cannot be seen from Earth. This means, conversely, that Earth can only be seen from the near side of the Moon and would always be invisible from the far side. If the Moon's rotation were purely synchronous, Earth would not have any noticeable movement in the Moon's sky. However, due to the Moon's libration, Earth does perform a slow and complex wobbling movement. Once a month, as seen from the Moon, Earth traces out an approximate oval 18° in diameter. The exact shape and orientation of this oval depend on one's location on the Moon. As a result, near the boundary of the near and far sides of the Moon, Earth is sometimes below the horizon and sometimes above it.

text: Eclipses from the Moon[edit]

text: Earth and the Sun sometimes meet in the lunar sky, causing an eclipse. On Earth, one would see a lunar eclipse, when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow; meanwhile on the Moon, one would see a solar eclipse, when the Sun goes behind the Earth. Since the apparent diameter of the Earth is four times as large as that of the Sun, the Sun would be hidden behind the Earth for hours. Earth's atmosphere would be visible as a reddish ring. During the Apollo 15 mission, an attempt was made to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle's TV camera to view such an eclipse, but the camera or its power source failed after the astronauts left for Earth.[8]

text: Terrestrial solar eclipses, on the other hand, would not be as spectacular for lunar observers because the Moon's umbra nearly tapers out at the Earth's surface. A blurry dark patch would barely be visible. The effect would be comparable to the shadow of a golf ball cast by sunlight on an object 4.572 m (15 ft) away. Lunar observers with telescopes might be able to discern the umbral shadow as a black spot at the center of a less dark region (penumbra) traveling across the full Earth's disk.

text: In summary, whenever an eclipse of some sort is occurring on Earth, an eclipse of another sort is occurring on the Moon. Eclipses occur for observers on both Earth and the Moon whenever the two bodies and the Sun align in a straight line, or syzygy.

text: Mars[edit]

text: Mars has only a thin atmosphere; however, it is extremely dusty and there is much light that is scattered about. The sky is thus rather bright during the daytime and stars are not visible. The Martian northern pole star is Deneb[9] (although the actual pole is somewhat offset in the direction of Alpha Cephei).

text: The color of the Martian sky[edit]

text: Generating accurate true-color images from Mars's surface is surprisingly complicated.[10] To give but one aspect to consider, there is the Purkinje effect: the human eye's response to color depends on the level of ambient light; red objects appear to darken faster than blue objects as the level of illumination goes down. There is much variation in the color of the sky as reproduced in published images, since many of those images have used filters to maximize their scientific value and are not trying to show true color. For many years, the sky on Mars was thought to be more pinkish than it is now believed to be.

text: It is now known that during the Martian day, the sky is a butterscotch color.[11] Around sunset and sunrise, the sky is rose in color, but in the vicinity of the setting Sun it is blue. This is the opposite of the situation on Earth. Twilight lasts a long time after the Sun has set and before it rises because of the dust high in Mars's atmosphere.

text: On Mars, Rayleigh scattering is usually a very weak effect; the red color of the sky is caused by the presence of iron(III) oxide in the airborne dust particles. These particles are larger in size than gas molecules, so most of the light is scattered by Mie scattering. Dust absorbs blue light and scatters longer wavelengths (red, orange, yellow).

text: The Sun from Mars[edit]

text: The Sun as seen from Mars appears to be  5⁄8 the size as seen from Earth (0.35°), and sends 40% of the light, approximately the brightness of a slightly cloudy afternoon on Earth.

text: On June 3, 2014, the Curiosity rover on Mars observed the planet Mercury transiting the Sun, marking the first time a planetary transit has been observed from a celestial body besides Earth.[12]

text: Mars's moons as seen from Mars[edit]

text: Mars has two small moons: Phobos and Deimos. From the Martian surface, Phobos has one-third to one-half the angular diameter of the Sun while Deimos is barely more than a dot (only 2′ angular diameter). The orbital period of Phobos is so much shorter than the Martian day that the apparent motion of Phobos is in reverse: it rises in the west and sets in the east. Phobos orbits so close (in a low-inclination equatorial orbit) that it cannot be seen north of 70.4°N or south of 70.4°S latitude; high-latitude observers would also notice a decrease in Phobos's apparent size, the additional distance being non-negligible. Phobos's apparent size varies by up to 45% as it passes overhead, due to its proximity to Mars's surface. For an equatorial observer, for example, Phobos is about 0.14° upon rising and swells to 0.20° by the time it reaches the zenith. It crosses the sky swiftly, in about 4.24 hours, every 11.11 hours. Deimos rises in the east and sets in the west, like a "normal" moon, although its appearance to the naked eye would be starlike (angular diameter between 1.8′ and 2.1′). Its brightness would vary between that of Venus and of the star Vega (as seen from Earth). Being relatively close to Mars, Deimos cannot be seen from Martian latitudes greater than 82.7°. Finally, Deimos's orbital period of about 30.3 hours exceeds the Martian rotation period (of about 24.6 hours) by such a small amount that it rises every 5.5 days and takes 2.5 days between rising and setting for an equatorial observer. Thus Phobos crosses the Martian sky nearly 12 times in the time it takes Deimos to cross it just once.

text: Phobos and Deimos can both eclipse the Sun as seen from Mars, although neither can completely cover its disk and so the event is in fact a transit, rather than an eclipse. For a detailed description of such events see the articles Transit of Phobos from Mars and Transit of Deimos from Mars.

text: Earth from Mars[edit]

text: The Earth is visible from Mars as a double star; the Moon would be visible alongside it as a fainter companion. The maximum visible distance between the Earth and the Moon would be about 25′, at inferior conjunction of the Earth and the Sun (for the terrestrial observer, this is the opposition of Mars and the Sun). Near maximum elongation (47.4°), the Earth and Moon would shine at apparent magnitudes −2.5 and +0.9, respectively.[5][13]

text: Venus from Mars[edit]

text: Venus as seen from Mars (when near the maximum elongation from the Sun of 31.7°) would have an apparent magnitude of about −3.2.[5]

text: The skies of Mars's moons[edit]

text: From Phobos, Mars appears 6,400 times larger and 2,500 times brighter than the full Moon as seen from Earth, and appears as a sphere of angular diameter roughly 42°—taking up a quarter of the width of a celestial hemisphere

text: From Deimos, Mars appears 1,000 times larger and 400 times brighter than the full Moon as seen from Earth, and appears as a sphere of angular diameter roughly 16.5°—taking up an eleventh of the width of a celestial hemisphere.

text: The Asteroid Belt[edit]

text: The asteroid belt is sparsely populated and most asteroids are very small, so that an observer situated on one asteroid would be unlikely to be able to see another without the aid of a telescope. Occasional "close approaches" do occur, but these are spread out over eons.

text: Some asteroids that cross the orbits of planets may occasionally get close enough to a planet or asteroid so that an observer from that asteroid can make out the disc of the nearby object without the aid of binoculars or a telescope. For example, in September 2004, 4179 Toutatis came about four times the distance from the Earth that the Moon does. At the closest point in its encounter, the Earth would have appeared about the same size as the Moon appears from Earth. The Moon would also be easily visible as a small shape in Toutatis's sky at that time.

text: Asteroids with unusual orbits also offer a lot to the imagination. For instance, the asteroid (or more likely, extinct comet) 3200 Phaethon has one of the most eccentric orbits: its distance from the Sun varies between 0.14 and 2.4 AU. At perihelion, the Sun would loom over 7 times larger than it does in our sky, and blast the surface with over 50 times as much energy; at aphelion, the Sun would shrink to less than half its apparent diameter on Earth, and give little more than a sixth as much illumination.

text: 87 Sylvia and its moons Romulus and Remus[edit]

text: The asteroid 87 Sylvia is one of the largest main-belt asteroids and the first asteroid observed to have two moons. These moons, Romulus and Remus, would appear roughly the same size. Romulus, the farther one, would be about 0.89° across, slightly bigger than the closer but smaller Remus, which would be about 0.78° across. Because Sylvia is far from spherical, these values can vary by about a little more than 10%, depending on where the observer is on Sylvia's surface. Since the two asteroidal moons appear to orbit (as best we can tell) in the same plane, they would occult each other once every 2.2 days. When the season is right, twice during Sylvia's 6.52 year orbital period, they would eclipse the Sun, which, at 0.15° across, is much smaller than when seen from Earth (0.53°). From Remus, the inner moon, Sylvia is huge, roughly 30°×18° across, while its view of Romulus varies between 1.59 and 0.50° across. From Romulus, Sylvia measures 16°×10° across, while Remus varies between 0.62° and 0.19°.

text: 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl[edit]

text: The asteroid 243 Ida was visited by the Galileo spacecraft on its way to Jupiter. It discovered a small moon named Dactyl. Although the exact orbital characteristics of Dactyl are not fully known, it was 90 kilometers from Ida when Galileo passed by. This would mean that from Ida, Dactyl would appear as large as 1.76 degrees across, which is huge for such a small moon (1.4 km).

text: Jupiter[edit]

text: Although no images from within Jupiter's atmosphere have ever been taken, artistic representations typically assume that the planet's sky is blue, though dimmer than Earth's, because the sunlight there is on average 27 times fainter, at least in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The planet's narrow rings might be faintly visible from latitudes above the equator. Further down into the atmosphere, the Sun would be obscured by clouds and haze of various colors, most commonly blue, brown, and red. Although theories abound on the cause of the colors, there is currently no unambiguous answer.[16]

text: From Jupiter, the Sun appears to cover only 5 arcminutes, less than a quarter of its size as seen from Earth.

text: Jupiter's moons as seen from Jupiter[edit]

text: Aside from the Sun, the most prominent objects in Jupiter's sky are the four Galilean moons. Io, the nearest to the planet, would be slightly larger than the full moon in Earth's sky, though less bright, and would be the largest moon in the Solar System as seen from its parent planet. The higher albedo of Europa would not overcome its greater distance from Jupiter, so it would not outshine Io. In fact, the low solar constant at Jupiter's distance (3.7% Earth's) ensures that none of the Galilean satellites would be as bright as the full moon is on Earth; from Io to Callisto their apparent magnitudes would be: −11.2, −9.7, −9.4, and −7.0.[citation needed]

text: Ganymede, the largest moon and third from Jupiter, is almost as bright as Io and Europa, but appears only half the size of Io. However, its great size means that it appears about 2″ larger than Europa. Also, a triple conjunction of Io, Europa and Ganymede would be impossible, because the Laplace resonance that they share prevents this. When two of the Galilean moons are aligned, the third is never less than 90 degrees to the left or right of these moons in its orbit. Callisto, still further out, would appear only a quarter the size of Io.

text: None of the surface features on Jupiter's moons would appear as prominent as the lunar maria do when the Moon is viewed from Earth. Dark and light patches would be visible on Io's surface due to the coloration of sulfur that covers Io, and the largest volcanoes would be designated by dark points, but the lack of large, contrasting features results in a poor view of it. Europa, however, would appear as a completely featureless white disc. Even when viewed from nearby, most spacecraft images use contrast enhancements to clearly show the cracks in the Europan ice, which are only about 10–15 percent darker than the rest of the surface. Vague dark and light patches would be visible on Ganymede, whereas Callisto is much too distant for any features to be made out.

text: All four Galilean moons stand out because of the swiftness of their motion, compared to the Moon. They are all also large enough to fully eclipse the Sun.[19] Because Jupiter's axial tilt is minimal, and the Galilean moons all orbit in the plane of Jupiter's equator, solar eclipses are quite common.

text: Jupiter's small inner moons appear only as starlike points except Amalthea, which can occasionally appear as large as Callisto. However, they would all be brighter than any star, ranging from magnitudes −1.5 to −4.9. The outer moons would be invisible except for Himalia, which would appear as a dim, starlike point to the naked eye (magnitude +5.5) only under favorable circumstances (if its periapsis happens to coincide exactly with its full phase).

text: The skies of Jupiter's moons[edit]

text: None of Jupiter's moons have more than traces of atmosphere, so their skies are black or very nearly so. For an observer on one of the moons, the most prominent feature of the sky by far would be Jupiter. For an observer on Io, the closest large moon to the planet, Jupiter's apparent diameter would be about 20° (38 times the visible diameter of the Moon, covering 1% of Io's sky). An observer on Metis, the innermost moon, would see Jupiter's apparent diameter increased to 68° (130 times the visible diameter of the Moon, covering 18% of Metis's sky). A "full Jupiter" over Metis shines with about 4% of the Sun's brightness (light on Earth from a full moon is 400 thousand times dimmer than sunlight).

text: Because the inner moons of Jupiter are in synchronous rotation around Jupiter, the planet always appears in nearly the same spot in their skies (Jupiter would wiggle a bit because of the non-zero eccentricities). Observers on the sides of the Galilean satellites facing away from the planet would never see Jupiter, for instance.

text: From the moons of Jupiter, solar eclipses caused by the Galilean satellites would be spectacular, because an observer would see the circular shadow of the eclipsing moon travel across Jupiter's face.[20]

text: Saturn[edit]

text: The sky in the upper reaches of Saturn's atmosphere is blue (from imagery of the Cassini mission at the time of its September 2017 demise), but the predominant color of its cloud decks suggests that it may be yellowish further down. Observations from spacecraft show that seasonal smog develops in Saturn's southern hemisphere at its perihelion due to its axial tilt. This could cause the sky to become yellowish at times. As the northern hemisphere is pointed towards the sun only at aphelion, the sky there would likely remain blue. The rings of Saturn are almost certainly visible from the upper reaches of its atmosphere. The rings are so thin that from a position on Saturn's equator, they would be almost invisible. However, from anywhere else on the planet, they could be seen as a spectacular arc stretching across half the celestial hemisphere.[16]

text: Saturn's moons would not look particularly impressive in its sky, as most are fairly small, and the largest are a long way from the planet. Even Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, appears only half the size of Earth's moon, and only grows as bright as −7. In fact, Titan is the dimmest of Saturn's moons due to its great distance and low albedo; Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea are all brighter, at magnitudes −7.8, −7.9, −8.8, −8, and −7.8, respectively. Here are the approximate angular diameters of the main moons (for comparison, Earth's moon has an average angular diameter of 31′): Mimas: 7–11′, Enceladus: 7–9′, Tethys: 12–15′, Dione: 10–12′, Rhea: 8–11′, Titan: 14–15′, Iapetus: 1′. Most of the inner moons would appear as bright, starlike points (with the exception of Janus, which would appear 7 arcseconds across at its zenith), although most would shine brighter than any star; for example, Janus and Epimetheus would both shine as bright as magnitude −6. Meanwhile, none of the outer moons would be visible except Phoebe, which nears the naked eye limit (6.2–6.6) even at full phase.

text: Saturn has a southern polar star, δ Octantis, a magnitude 4.3 star. It is much fainter than Earth's Polaris (α Ursae Minoris).

text: The skies of Saturn's moons[edit]

text: Since the inner moons of Saturn are all in synchronous rotation, the planet always appears in the same spot in their skies. Observers on the sides of those satellites facing away from the planet would never see Saturn.

text: In the skies of Saturn's inner moons, Saturn is an enormous object. For instance, Saturn seen from Pan has an apparent diameter of ~50°, 104 times larger than our Moon and occupying 11% of Pan's sky. Because Pan orbits along the Encke division within Saturn's rings, they are visible from anywhere on Pan, even on its side facing away from Saturn.

text: The rings from Saturn's moons[edit]

text: Saturn's rings would not be prominent from most of the moons. This is because the rings, though wide, are not very thick, and most of the moons orbit almost exactly (within 1.5°) in the planet's ring plane. Thus, the rings are edge-on and practically invisible from the inner moons. From the outer moons, starting with Iapetus, a more oblique view of the rings would be available, although the greater distance would make Saturn appear smaller in the sky; from Phoebe, the largest of Saturn's outermost moons, Saturn would appear only as big as the full Moon does from Earth. The play of distance and angle is quite sensitive to the values used, but calculations show the best view of the rings would be achieved from the inner moon Mimas, which lies a full 1.5° off Saturn's equatorial plane and is fairly near the rings. At their widest opening, when Mimas is at its maximum distance from Saturn's equatorial plane, the edges of the rings (from B to A) would be separated by 2.7 degrees. The co-orbitals Epimetheus and Janus would also get a good view, with maximum opening angles ranging between 1.5 and 2.9°. Tethys gets the next best view, with nearly half a degree. Iapetus achieves 0.20°, which is more than any of the outer moons can claim.

text: The sky of Titan[edit]

text: Titan is the only moon in the solar system to have a thick atmosphere. Images from the Huygens probe show that the Titanean sky is a light tangerine color. However, an astronaut standing on the surface of Titan would see a hazy brownish/dark orange color. As a consequence of its greater distance from the Sun and the opacity of its atmosphere, the surface of Titan receives only about  1⁄3000 of the sunlight Earth does – daytime on Titan is thus only as bright as twilight on the Earth. It seems likely that Saturn is permanently invisible behind orange smog, and even the Sun would only be a lighter patch in the haze, barely illuminating the surface of ice and methane lakes. However, in the upper atmosphere, the sky would have a blue color and Saturn would be visible.[21] With its thick atmosphere and methane rain, Titan is the only celestial body other than Earth upon which rainbows could form. However, given the extreme opacity of the atmosphere in visible light, the vast majority would be in the infrared.[22]

text: The sky of Enceladus[edit]

text: Seen from Enceladus, Saturn would have a visible diameter of almost 30°, sixty times more than the Moon visible from Earth. Moreover, since Enceladus rotates synchronously with its orbital period and therefore keeps one face pointed toward Saturn, the planet never moves in Enceladus's sky (albeit with slight variations coming from the orbit's eccentricity), and cannot be seen from the far side of the satellite.

text: Saturn's rings would be seen from an angle of only 0.019° and be almost invisible, but their shadow on Saturn's disk would be clearly distinguishable. Like our own Moon from Earth, Saturn itself would show regular phases. From Enceladus, the Sun would have a diameter of only 3.5 minutes of arc, one-ninth that of the Moon as seen from Earth.

text: An observer located on Enceladus could also observe Mimas (the biggest satellite located inside Enceladus's orbit) transit in front of Saturn every 72 hours, on average. Its apparent size would be at most 26 minutes of arc, about the same size as the Moon seen from Earth. Pallene and Methone would appear nearly star-like (maximum 30 seconds of arc). Tethys, visible from Enceladus's anti-Saturnian side, would reach a maximum apparent size of about 64 minutes of arc, about twice that of the Moon as seen from the Earth.

text: Uranus[edit]

text: Judging by the color of its atmosphere, the sky of Uranus is probably a light blue, i.e. cyan color. It is unlikely that the planet's rings can be seen from its surface, as they are very thin and dark. Uranus has a northern polar star, Sabik (η Ophiuchi), a magnitude 2.4 star. Uranus also has a southern polar star, 15 Orionis, an unremarkable magnitude 4.8 star. Both are fainter than Earth's Polaris (α Ursae Minoris), although Sabik only slightly.[16]

text: Uranus is unusual in that the obliquity of its ecliptic is 82° (angle between the orbital and rotational poles). The North Pole of Uranus points to somewhere near η Ophiuchi (in Earth's southern celestial hemisphere), about 15° northeast of Antares, and its South Pole halfway between Betelgeuse and Aldebaran. Uranus's "tropics" lie at 82° latitude and its "Arctic circles" at 8° latitude. On December 17, 2007, the Sun passed the Uranian celestial equator to the North and in 2029 the North Pole of Uranus will be nearly pointed at the Sun.

text: None of Uranus's moons would appear as large as a full moon on Earth from the surface of their parent planet, but the large number of them would present an interesting sight for observers hovering above the cloudtops. The angular diameters of the five large moons are as follows (for comparison, Earth's moon measures on average 31′ for terrestrial observers): Miranda, 11–15′; Ariel, 20–23′; Umbriel, 15–17′; Titania, 11–13′; Oberon, 8–9′. Unlike on the other gas giants, many of the inner moons can be seen as disks rather than starlike points; the moons Portia and Juliet can appear around the size of Miranda at times, and a number of other inner moons appear larger than Oberon. Several others range from 6′ to 8′. The outer irregular moons would not be visible to the naked eye.

text: However, the low light levels at such a great distance from the sun ensure that the moons appear very dim; the brightest, Ariel, would only shine at magnitude -7.4, more than 100 times dimmer than the moon as seen from Earth. Meanwhile, the outer large moon Oberon would only be as bright as magnitude -4.9, about the same as Venus despite its proximity.

text: Neptune[edit]

text: Judging by the color of its atmosphere, the sky of Neptune is probably an azure or sky blue, similar to Uranus'. As in the case of Uranus, it is unlikely that the planet's rings can be seen from its surface, as they are very thin and dark.

text: Aside from the Sun, the most impressive object in Neptune's sky is its large moon Triton, which would appear slightly smaller than a full Moon on Earth. It moves more swiftly than our Moon, because of its shorter period (5.8 days) compounded by its retrograde orbit. The smaller moon Proteus would show a disk about half the size of the full Moon. Surprisingly, Neptune's small inner moons all cover, at some point in their orbits, more than 10′ in Neptune's sky. At some points, Despina's angular diameter rivals that of Ariel from Uranus and Ganymede from Jupiter. Here are the angular diameters for Neptune's moons (for comparison, Earth's moon measures on average 31′ for terrestrial observers): Naiad, 7–13′; Thalassa, 8–14′; Despina, 14–22′; Galatea, 13–18′; Larissa, 10–14′; Proteus, 12–16′; Triton, 26–28′. An alignment of the inner moons would likely produce a spectacular sight. Neptune's large outer satellite, Nereid, is not large enough to appear as a disk from Neptune, and is not noticeable in the sky, as its brightness at full phase varies from magnitude 2.2–6.4, depending on which point in its eccentric orbit it happens to be. The other irregular outer moons would not be visible to the naked eye, although a dedicated telescopic observer could potentially spot some at full phase.

text: As with Uranus, the low light levels cause the major moons to appear very dim. The brightness of Triton at full phase is only −7.11, despite the fact that Triton is more than 4 times as intrinsically bright as our moon and orbits much closer to Neptune.

text: The sky of Triton[edit]

text: Triton, Neptune's largest moon, has an atmosphere, but it is so thin that its sky is still black, possibly with some pale haze at the horizon. Because Triton orbits with synchronous rotation, Neptune always appears in the same position in its sky. Triton's rotation axis is inclined 130° to Neptune's orbital plane and thus points within 40° of the Sun twice per Neptunian year, much like Uranus's. As Neptune orbits the Sun, Triton's polar regions take turns facing the Sun for 82 years at a stretch, resulting in radical seasonal changes as one pole, then the other, moves into the sunlight.

text: Neptune itself would span 8 degrees in Triton's sky, though with a maximum brightness roughly comparable to that of the full moon on Earth it would appear only about  1⁄256 as bright as the full moon, per unit area. Due to its eccentric orbit, Nereid would vary considerably in brightness, from fifth to first magnitude; its disk would be far too small to see with the naked eye. Proteus would also be difficult to resolve at just 5–6 arcminutes across, but it would never be fainter than first magnitude, and at its closest would rival Canopus.

text: Trans-Neptunian Objects[edit]

text: A trans-Neptunian object is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater average distance (semi-major axis) than Neptune, 30 astronomical units (AU).

text: Pluto and Charon[edit]

text: Pluto, accompanied by its largest moon Charon, orbits the Sun at a distance usually outside the orbit of Neptune except for a twenty-year period in each orbit.

text: From Pluto, the Sun is point-like to human eyes, but still very bright, giving roughly 150 to 450 times the light of the full Moon from Earth (the variability being due to the fact that Pluto's orbit is highly elliptical, stretching from just 4.4 billion km to over 7.3 billion km from the Sun).[23] Nonetheless, human observers would find a large decrease in available light.

text: Pluto's atmosphere consists of a thin envelope of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide gases, which are derived from the ices of these substances on its surface. When Pluto is closer to the Sun, the temperature of Pluto's solid surface increases, causing ices to sublimate into gas. This atmosphere also produces a noticeable blue haze which is visible at sunset, and possibly other times of the Plutonian day [24]

text: Pluto and Charon are tidally locked to each other. This means that Charon always presents the same face to Pluto, and Pluto also always presents the same face to Charon. Observers on the far side of Charon from Pluto would never see the dwarf planet; observers on the far side of Pluto from Charon would never see the moon. Every 124 years, for several years it is mutual-eclipse season, when Pluto and Charon each eclipse the Sun for the other, at intervals of 3.2 days.

text:
View from Hydra. Pluto and Charon (right); Nix (left) (artist concept).

View from Pluto. Sun (right-top); Charon (left) (artist concept).

View from Pluto of Charon and the Sun (artist concept).

Pluto by moonlight (artist concept).

tag: ul

text: 50000 Quaoar and its moon Weywot[edit]

text: The asteroid Quaoar is a Kuiper belt object with a circular orbit and moderate inclination. From its surface and at the average distance between its perihelion and aphelion the Sun would have an angular diameter of 44.2″ (arcseconds) comparable to the maximum diameter of Venus of 63.0″; the human eye has a resolution of 72″, so the Sun from Quaoar's surface would appear as a point. The Sun's apparent magnitude would be -18.56, in comparison the magnitude of the Moon at full phase is −12.74, so the Sun would appear on Quaoar as a point of light 212 times brighter than a full Moon on Earth. The amount of light depends on the atmosphere: if present the amount of light received at noon would be similar to the light at dusk or dawn on Earth.

text: Quaoar's moon Weywot has an angular diameter of 15.9′ (arcminutes) at apoapsis and 21.4′ at periapsis, in comparison the Moon's angular diameter varies between 29.4′ and 33.5′. In comparison to the size of the Sun from Quaoar's surface Weywot would appear much bigger: 15.9′ is equal to 954″ or 21.6 times the diameter of the Sun as seen from Quaoar. Most solar eclipses would be total and a partial eclipse would be extremely rare. At full phase Weywot's visual magnitude is -3.24 somewhere between Jupiter's maximum magnitude (-2.94) and Venus's minimum magnitude (-3.82), in comparison the Moon at full phase is 6,301 times brighter than Weywot.

text: Quaoar's umbra extends 5,180,390 km and at the distance of Weywot's apoapsis it would have a diameter of 1,106.5 km or 15 times Weywot's diameter. In comparison Earth's umbra at the Moon's position is 2.65 times wider. Weywot's inclination is not determined yet, it's either 14° or 30°, if we assume the smaller value then Weywot's center at apoapsis can be up to 4,121 km above or below Quaoar's equatorial plane, this mean for most of the time Weywot is outside of the umbra completely.

text: Comets[edit]

text: The sky of a comet changes dramatically as it nears the Sun. During perihelion, a comet's ices begin to sublime from its surface, forming tails of gas and dust, and a coma. An observer on a comet nearing the Sun might see the stars slightly obscured by a milky haze, which could create halo effects around the Sun and other bright objects.

text: Extrasolar planets[edit]

text: Basics[edit]

text: This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (April 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: For observers on extrasolar planets, the constellations would differ depending on the distances involved. The view of outer space of exoplanets can be extrapolated from open source software such as Celestia or Stellarium, and it appears that due to parallax, distant stars change their position less than nearby ones. For alien observers, the Sun would be visible to the naked human eye only at distances below 20[25] – 27[26] parsec (60 - 90 ly)[nb 1]. Whenever the sun is observed from another star, it always appears on the opposite coordinates in the sky. Thus an observer located near a star with RA at 4 hr and declination -10 would see the sun located at RA: 16 hr, dec: +10. A consequence of observing the universe from other stars is that stars that may appear bright in our own sky may appear dimmer in other skies and vice versa.

text: View from nearby stars (0 - 10 ly)[edit]

text: If the Sun were to be observed from the Alpha Centauri system, the nearest star system to ours, it would appear to be a 0.46 magnitude star in the constellation Cassiopeia, and would create a "/W" shape instead of the "W" as seen from Earth. Due to the proximity of the Alpha Centauri system, the constellations would, for the most part, appear similar. However, there are some notable differences with the position of other nearby stars; for example, Sirius would appear about one degree from the star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion. Also, Procyon would appear in the constellation Gemini, about 13 degrees below Pollux.

text: A planet around either α Centauri A or B would see the other star as a very bright secondary. For example, an Earth-like planet at 1.25 astronomical units from α Cen A (with a revolution period of 1.34 years) would get Sun-like illumination from its primary, and α Cen B would appear 5.7 to 8.6 magnitudes dimmer (−21.0 to −18.2), 190 to 2,700 times dimmer than α Cen A but still 150 to 2,100 times brighter than the full Moon. Conversely, an Earth-like planet at 0.71 AU from α Cen B (with a revolution period of 0.63 years) would get Sun-like illumination from its primary, and α Cen A would appear 4.6 to 7.3 magnitudes dimmer (−22.1 to −19.4), 70 to 840 times dimmer than α Cen B but still 470 to 5,700 times brighter than the full Moon. In both cases the secondary sun would, in the course of the planet's year, appear to circle the sky. It would start off right beside the primary and end up, half a period later, opposite it in the sky (at "full"). After another half period, it would complete the cycle. Other planets orbiting one member of a binary system would enjoy similar skies. The angular separation between the two stars would not be exactly the same after one orbit of the planet however, because during that time the parent star will have completed part of its orbit around the other star in the system.

text: View from more distant stars (10 ly - )[edit]

text: From 40 Eridani, 16 light years away, the Sun would be an average looking star of about apparent magnitude 3.3 in the constellation Serpens Caput. At this distance most of the stars nearest to us would be in different locations to those in our sky, including Alpha Centauri, Sirius, and Procyon.

text: From a planet orbiting Aldebaran, 65 light years away, our Sun would be seen as an insignificant 6.4 magnitude star between Ophiuchus and Scorpius (more specifically, it would in the vicinity of Phi Ophiuchi and 24 Scorpii). Constellations made of bright, distant stars would look somewhat similar (such as Orion and Scorpius) but much of the night sky would seem unfamiliar to someone from Earth. Even Orion would appear somewhat different; viewed from this position, Alnilam and Mintaka would appear to be on top of each other, only 15 arcminutes apart, thus reducing the belt to two stars. Also Bellatrix would be much closer to the belt, making the "chest" somewhat smaller.

text: Recent developments[edit]

text: In May 2017, glints of light from Earth, seen as twinkling from an orbiting satellite a million miles away, were found to be reflected light from ice crystals in the atmosphere.[27][28] The technology used to determine this may be useful in studying the atmospheres of distant worlds, including those of exoplanets.