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Saturn is Visible Without Using a Telescope

Posted by: Niel Hudgens    Posted on: September 27, 2007


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A Guide To Portable Hardness Testers
What are Portable Hardness Testers Portable Hardness Testers, as the name suggests, are portable (moveable) instruments that are used for on-site hardness measurement tests. The advantage of portable hardness testers over conventional stationary testers is that while the latter require the sample to be brought to the testing apparatus, the portable testers can be taken to the site for the hardness test.

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Introduction Rockwell Hardness Testers, like other hardness testers, measure the hardness of materials by measuring the materials resistance to penetration under a specific force. Unlike other testers, however, the Rockwell testers measure the net increase in the depth of indentation (rather than the hemispherical area) as and when a load is applied.

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Introduction One of the earliest invented methods of measuring the hardness of materials, the Brinell test, makes use of a special kind of tabletop hardness tester - the Brinell Hardness Tester. The Brinell Hardness Testers give the Brinell Hardness of a material by means of creating an indentation on the specimen material surface.

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What is Vickers Hardness Test Vickers Hardness Test is the most widely accepted method for measuring the hardness of materials. Vickers test provides a continuous scale of hardness and it can be used for all metals - from the very soft ones to very hard metals. The Vickers Hardness Test is described in ASTM Standard E92-72.

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What is Mohs Hardness Testing Evolved by the German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs in 1812, Mohs Hardness Test is one among the earliest ways of measuring hardness and it revolves round the observation whether a materials surface is scratched by a substance of known or defined hardness. This leads us to the concept of Mohs hardness, which is defined as 'how well a substance will resist scratching by another substance'.

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What is Barcol Hardness Testing Barcol Hardness Testing is a method of measuring the hardness of reinforced and non-reinforced rigid plastics. The hardness value is arrived at by assessing the plastic materials resistance to being penetrated by the indenter. How is the Barcol Hardness Testing done The Barcol Hardness test is carried out with the help of a Barcol Impresser or a Barcol Hardness Tester.

Benefit From Janka Wood Hardness Rating
What is Janka Wood Hardness Rating Janka Wood Hardness Rating is a relative measurement of the wood's impact-resistance and wear-resistance, an evaluation of its hardness. The higher the rating, the harder is the species of wood. Applications Of Janka Wood Hardness Rating Janka Wood Hardness Rating being the numerical representation of the wood's durability (its ability to withstand denting and wearing) it is easy to select a wood-species depending on the use it is being put to.




Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, has the most spectacular set of rings in the solar system. Saturn has been known since prehistoric times. Saturn is visibly flattened (oblate) when viewed through a small telescope; its equatorial and polar diameters vary by almost 10% (120,536 km vs. Saturn also exhibits long-lived ovals (red spot at center of image at right) and other features common on Jupiter. Saturn's rings remained unique in the known solar system until 1977 when very faint rings were discovered around Uranus (and shortly thereafter around Jupiter and Neptune). Saturn is the least dense of the planets; its specific gravity (0. Saturn is visibly flattened (oblate) when viewed through a small telescope; its equatorial and polar diameters vary by almost 10% (120,536 km vs.

Rings

Rings are 270,000 km in diameter, but only a few hundred meters thick. Early observations of Saturn were complicated by the fact that the Earth passes through the plane of Saturn's rings every few years as Saturn moves in its orbit. Saturn's rings are extraordinarily thin: though they're 250,000 km or more in diameter they're less than one kilometer thick. Two prominent rings (A and B) and one faint ring (C) can be seen from the Earth. The origin of the rings of Saturn (and the other jovian planets) is unknown. The current set of rings maybe only a few hundred million years old.

Satellites

The rings and the larger satellites are visible with a small astronomical telescope. There are satellites within the rings which result in the gaps that are present between some rings. Though they may have had rings since their formation, the ring systems are not stable and must be regenerated by ongoing processes, perhaps the breakup of larger satellites. Saturn has at least 35 naturally occurring satellites. All five, like the newly discovered four outer moons of Saturn, are irregular satellites.

Saturn's interior is hot (12000 K at the core) and Saturn radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun. Saturn's rings, unlike the rings of the other planets, are very bright (albedo 0. Saturn is the most oblate (flattened) planet in our Solar System. Saturn's outermost ring, the F-ring, is a complex structure made up of several smaller rings along which "knots" are visible. Saturn also exhibits long-lived ovals (red spot at center of image at right) and other features common on Jupiter. Saturn's bright rings are made of ice chunks (and some rocks) that range in size from the size of a fingernail to the size of a car. Saturn is visible without using a telescope, but a low-power telescope is needed to see its rings. Saturn is the only planet in our Solar System that is less dense than water. Saturn's auroral displays are caused by an energetic wind from the Sun that sweeps over the planet, much like Earth's aurora, which is occasionally seen in the nighttime sky.


About the Author

Niel Hudgens is a successful Webmaster and publisher of www.AstronomistsUnlimited.com. He provides more information about astronomy and astronomy issues that you can research in your pajamas on his website.



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