Posted: Jun 06, 2011 2:15 pm
As for the distance - I would discount the "take some of our atmosphere". The view on the closest approach in the fly-by gave an apparent diameter 5-6 times that of the full moon. Hard to judge, though, as it was close to the horizon. This causes me to underestimate. If it were 10 times that of the full moon, that would mean 5 degrees ... I tried to calculate it and got a distance of 45 Earth diameters, with the previous assumption that Melancholia has a diameter 4 times that of Earth.
That would mean something like 50 % more than the distance between Earth and the Moon. Oh dear, I have not done trigonometry since high school ...
That would mean something like 50 % more than the distance between Earth and the Moon. Oh dear, I have not done trigonometry since high school ...