For the following few weeks, you possibly can catch Saturn’s greatest present of the 12 months.
This month, Saturn can be at opposition with its rings tipped barely towards us — although not as a lot as on this Hubble picture from July 2020. Credit score: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Area Flight Heart), M.H. Wong (College of California, Berkeley), and the OPAL Staff
For many individuals, trying via a telescope for the primary time at Saturn is a revelation. By an eyepiece, the planet and its spectacular ring system can appear virtually surreal — as if it had been truly a man-made projected picture and never a gas giant orbiting over 9 occasions farther from the Solar than Earth.
The perfect time of 12 months to enjoy these views of Saturn is approaching: On August twenty seventh, Saturn will attain opposition, which means it’s straight reverse the Solar. It can glow at about magnitude 0.4 within the constellation Aquarius; the disk will subtend about 19″ and its rings about 43″. The rings may even be tilted barely towards us by about 9°, giving us the chance to maybe see the Cassini Division or the Encke Hole.
For extra data on the best way to observe Saturn, try August’s edition of Sky This Month:
Comply with Astronomy journal, the world’s best-selling astronomy journal:
🌎 Web site: https://astronomy.com
📖 Subscribe: http://subscribe.astronomy.com
📘 Fb: https://www.facebook.com/AstronomyMagazine
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/astronomy.magazine
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/AstronomyMag
Store Celestron telescopes:
🔭 Web site: https://celestron.com
Comply with Dave Eicher:
📘 Fb: https://www.facebook.com/davidjohneicher
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/eicher.david
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/deicherstar
