Posted on 07/06/2017 5:54:04 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The ringed planet appears as a bright "star" shining with a steady, sedate yellow-white glow, but it isn't as eye-catching as Venus or Jupiter. Indeed, I suspect that many neophytes to astronomy likely have passed over it visually without knowing exactly what it is. Some nearby benchmark would certainly help to guide one to it.
About 1 hour after sunset, look toward the south-southeast sky. Roughly one-quarter up from the horizon to the point overhead will be a nearly full moon, 96 percent illuminated by the sun. (The moon will officially turn full during the overnight hours late next Saturday night, July 8.)
Hovering less than 3 degrees below the moon you'll see a bright, yellowish-white "star" shining with a steady glow. And that will be Saturn.
With Saturn properly identified, if you have a telescope and have never seen the "lord of the rings," you can finally catch a glimpse. Any telescope magnifying more than 30-power will show the rings. They consist of billions of particles ranging in size from sand grains to flying mountains, which are made of — or covered by — water ice. This would account for their very high reflectivity. The reason that "rings" is plural and not singular is that gaps of brightness differences define distinct sets of rings.
Right now, the north side of the rings is tilted 26.7-degrees toward Earth. They haven't been this wide open since June of 2003, so now is a great time to check them out.
And if clouds hide your view of Saturn and the moon, don't fret. You'll have another chance to see moon near to Saturn (though not as close as on Thursday) on Wednesday evening (Aug. 2).
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Cool! Thanks, will be watching :)
Book mark for this evening.
Thanks very much...
From that headline, I thought the laws of physics had changed suddenly and was about to crack open my old DVD of “When Worlds Collide.”
746 million miles is a close encounter? /s
Good thing Uranus wasn’t Mooned; how would we tell them apart?
Nice! Please be sure to post a pic of Saturn tonight if you can catch it.
I hope it misses being swallowed up by Saturn.
Our other moon knocked over Uranus.... true story.
Uranus is unique among all the planets of the solar system because it essentially orbits on its side, with its axis tilted nearly perpendicular to the Sun.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/5847495/how-uranus-got-knocked-on-its-side
Yes please post a photo if you are able. I have clouds blocking the view over here which is quite a shame.
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