Langley Research Center. Mars Mobile. Images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover last week include bright spots. Such spots, not unusual in images from the rover, have multiple possible explanations. NASA - JPL Solar System Simulator. Asteroid Watch. Recent News February 5, 2015NASA's Dawn spacecraft, on approach to dwarf planet Ceres, has acquired its latest and closest-yet snapshot of this mysterious world. › Read more January 27, 2015NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned the sharpest images ever seen of the dwarf planet Ceres. › Read more January 22, 2015There has been a significant increase in the amount of water "pouring" out of the Rosetta mission's comet. › Read more › More news Next Five Close Approaches Average distance between Earth and the moon is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers).
The Asteroid Watch Widget tracks asteroids and comets that will make relatively close approaches to Earth. The Widget displays the next five Earth approaches to within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the moon); an object larger than about 150 meters that can approach the Earth to within this distance is termed a potentially hazardous object. The Night Sky This Month. Digital Images of the Sky. The Fibonacci Numbers: - Title.
The Fibonacci Numbers: Connections within the Mathematics and Calendrical Systems of Ancient Mesoamerica by Valerie Vaughan Introduction Astronomical cycles do not fit neatly into whole-number counting systems created by humans. The Mesoamericans, like all civilized peoples of the world, developed and abided by a calendar based on the approximate length of the tropical year (365 days).
Despite the importance of the 260-day calendar for ancient Mesoamericans, no explanation has been generally accepted as to how, why, or exactly where this time-keeping method began. The fact is that the ancient Maya discovered a mathemagical key that linked nearly every known astronomical cycle. In the Dresden Codex (one of the few surviving codices from ancient Mesoamerica) are tables giving multiples of 780 days (260 x 3), which correlate with the synodic period of Mars (779.936 days). 2920 = 8 x 365 = 5 x 584 37,960 = 104 x 365 = 65 x 584 = 146 x 260 = 219 x 173.31 The Tropical Year Fibonacci Numbers.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Homepage. Cambridge Astronomy.