Well now that depends on what you’re measuring from!  Let’s try some possibilities: How far is Mars from the Sun? On average:  227.92 million kilometers.  But, like everything else in the universe, Mars does not have a perfectly circular orbit.  Instead, it moves in an ellipse, sometimes getting as far out as 249.23 million kilometers, and sometimes as close as 206.62 million kilometers. How far is Mars from the Earth? Anything from 54.52 million kilometers up to 401.33 million kilometers. … Continue reading →

Twenty three.  When Galileo first saw Saturn‘s rings, his telescope was primitive enough that he could only see that there was something odd about Saturn’s shape.  As time passed, and more astronomers used better telescopes to observe Saturn, a clearer and clear picture emerged.  First it became clear that the mystery shape was a gigantic ring around the planet.  Then a gap was noticed – the Cassini Division – increasing the count to two rings, followed by more gaps, and … Continue reading →