Monday 21st to Sunday 27th August 2023
Last week I talked about the astronomical term "conjunction" where two celestial objects appear to be close together. Another term called "opposition" occurs when two bodies are in opposite parts of the sky.
On Sunday 27th, Saturn reaches opposition to the Sun, so it is well-placed for observing with a magnitude of around +0.3 and the planet reaches a maximum elevation of 25 degrees above the horizon.
If you venture outside any evening next week and look towards the south around midnight, Saturn will be approaching this maximum height in the sky.
As light passes through our atmosphere, it becomes distorted which can spoil the view through a telescope with high magnification eyepieces and it is also why stars appear to twinkle. Astronomers always prefer to observe objects when they are at high elevations and the light from them is passing through less atmosphere, so next week is an ideal opportunity to point your telescope towards Saturn and look at those amazing rings circling around it!
The rings are made from countless particles ranging in size from a few micro-meters to several meters in diameter. They are mainly made from water ice and to this day, space scientists cannot agree how they were originally formed.
The first person to observe them was Galileo back in 1610, but with his basic telescope, he was unable to resolve any detail. A much better view was provided by the Voyager 2 space probe in 1981 and I have included a copy of this image.
Voyager 2 image courtesy of NASA
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2023
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