The moon meets up with Saturn on Sunday (March 19) with the 2 celestial our bodies sharing the identical right ascension, an association known as a conjunction.
The skinny sliver of the moon, which can be in its waning crescent phase, will go south of Saturn by 3°35′ based on In the Sky. (opens in new tab) Each the moon and the gas giant, which is the second-largest planet within the solar system can be within the constellation of Aquarius in the course of the conjunction.
The moon could have a magnitude of -9.8, with the minus prefix indicating a very brilliant object within the sky, whereas Saturn could have a magnitude of 0.8. The perfect time to view the conjunction can be round 6:30 a.m. native time, and skywatchers will want an unobstructed horizon and a transparent sky to make out the pair within the morning twilight. Simply watch out to show your optics away from the horizon earlier than the sun rises!
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Throughout the conjunction, the moon and Saturn will nonetheless be too broadly separated to be seen along with a telescope. Skywatchers may spot the conjunction with binoculars.
In keeping with In the Sky (opens in new tab), the conjunction can be seen from New York Metropolis at round 6:02 a.m. EDT (1002 GMT), simply after the moon and Saturn have risen over the horizon. The conjunction will stay seen till round 4:42 p.m. EDT (2042 GMT) when the moon units. This implies skywatchers aiming to view the conjunction ought to take precautions related to daytime astronomy, significantly not trying immediately on the sun both by means of optics or with the unaided eye.
Whereas the moon dominates Saturn within the evening sky by way of dimension, with an angular dimension of 32’55″7 in comparison with Saturn’s angular dimension of 15″5 in the course of the conjunction, the state of affairs may hardly be extra totally different out within the precise solar system.
Saturn is so massive, with a diameter of over 72,000 miles (116,000 km), that NASA says it could take 9 Earths to ring it on the gas giant’s equator. Which means if Earth was as massive as a nickel, Saturn could be the scale of a volleyball. The moon’s diameter, in the meantime, is simply 2,159 miles (3,475 kilometers) making it 1 / 4 of the scale of Earth. Meaning it could take 36 moons to ring Saturn.
After all, Saturn is not any stranger to moons, because it has at least 83 of its own! Along with this, the gas giant has one other 20 moons ready to be confirmed. The biggest of Saturn’s moons is the enormous moon Titan, bigger than the planet Mercury. The biggest of not less than 150 recognized solar system moons, Titan dwarfs Earth’s moon with a diameter of round 3,200 miles (5,150 kilometers).
This measurement may appear a bit controversial contemplating Jupiter’s moon Ganymede truly has a diameter of round 3,270 miles (5,270 kilometers). Titan beats Ganymede as the biggest moon as a result of this measurement solely components in its strong physique and does not embrace its environment which stretches for a whole bunch of miles!
When you’re hoping to catch a have a look at the moon or Saturn in the course of the conjunction our information for the best telescopes will assist. If you wish to catch the 2 celestial objects collectively our information to the best binoculars is a superb place to start out.
When you’re seeking to snap images of the evening sky usually, take a look at our information on how to photograph the moon, in addition to our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s Be aware: When you snap Saturn or the moon and want to share your photograph(s) with House.com’s readers, ship your photograph(s), feedback, and your identify and site to spacephotos@space.com.
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