View Saturn at its best for the year!

Thursday, January 26th, 2006 at 12:42 PM by Dave

(Click on image for full-size version.) A series of Hubble photos of Saturn.

On Friday, January 27, Saturn will be at opposition with the Sun.  This means that when the Sun sets, Saturn will rise.  Saturn will be up all night long for anyone to view.  During this time Saturn will be at its closest to the Earth for 2006 and it is an excellent time to view Saturn!

Saturn’s equator, like Earth’s, is tilted with respect to its orbit. Saturn’s rings orbit over its equator and so Saturn’s rings are tilted with respect to its orbit.  This means depending on where Saturn is in its orbit, we see different views of its rings. The orbit of Saturn brought the rings to full view in 2002.  In 2009 the rings will be seen edge-on and will seem to disappear.  Afterwards the tilt will come back to full view in 2016.  Now would be a good time to watch the changes in the ring orientation the next few years as the rings of Saturn will slowly disappear.

During the Spring Astronomy Public Nights we will observe Saturn through telescopes.  Additional information about the Public Nights will come out next month.

Posted in Astronomy News

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