[ad_1]
On Sunday evening August 1, the incredible beauty that is Saturn will be closest to Earth all year round.
At that time, it will be approximately 1,336,700,000 kilometers from Earth. It’s still a long way – space is big, hence the name – but the planet will be amazing and beautiful even through a small telescope.
We call this event opposition, because Saturn is the opposite of the Sun in the sky. Another way to look at it is that the Earth is directly between Saturn and the Sun, so our two planets are as close as they can get. At any other point in its orbit, Earth will be further away from Saturn, making it appear smaller, which is why this is a great time to look at Saturn. You can’t see the size directly with the naked eye – it’s still quite a distance away, so it appears as a star-shaped dot – but any sort of magnification aid like binoculars will help. Bonus: because we are the closest to the opposition, Saturn also seems the brightest.
Also, since it is opposite the Sun in the sky, it rises when the Sun sets and sets when the Sun rises. It’s up all night! So, by the time the sky turns beautiful and dark, Saturn should be high enough above the eastern horizon to see, and will continue to rise until shortly after 1:00 a.m. local time, when it is due south and also high that he will enter. The sky.
So it’s up all night, as big as it gets, and as bright as it gets. Win win win.
Saturn takes about 29 years to orbit the Sun once. The Earth is closer to the Sun and is moving much faster, completing one orbit in a year. If Saturn did not move, the opposition would occur once in each Earth year. But Saturn orbits the Sun, in the same direction as the Earth, so we have to spend a little more time catching up with it. It’s like the hands of a clock; the big hand sweeps once an hour, but the small hand also moves a bit during this time, so the big hand doesn’t reach it for a little over an hour.
This 29-year orbital period of Saturn is measured relative to the background stars, so we call it the sidereal period (of coherent, meaning “star”). The time it takes for Saturn, Earth and Sun to align again is approximately 378 days (1,035 years) and that is the synodic period (from target = “_ blank”, “linked to a meeting”, which is rather poetic).
I note that doesn’t mean you have to rush to see Saturn at this exact moment! It will be sunny and will be practically awake all night for weeks or even months (like for a while too). For example, July 22 was 1,339,200,000 km and August 15 was 1,340,700,000 km. A million miles here or there hardly makes a difference (like 0.1%), so no big deal if you can’t get out to see it for a while. I will note Saturn’s next opposition after this is August 14, 2022.
If you want to see it, come out as soon as the sky is good and dark (around 10:00 p.m. local time, depending on your latitude) and look south / southeast. It will be the bright star not far from the horizon.
… but be careful! Jupiter is also approaching the opposition (it’s August 19) and it rises an hour after Saturn. It’s much brighter – Jupiter is bigger and half the distance – which makes it a little easier to distinguish from Saturn. If you spot a very bright object near the horizon, it’s probably Jupiter, and Saturn will be a bit higher and to the right (for northern hemisphere viewers).
Be careful, waiting until later in the evening means both Saturn and Jupiter is higher and you don’t want to miss the Big Guy either.
If you need help, try using an online planetarium software like Stellarium or The Sky Live (be sure to enter your location as well). Searching for “web planetarium software” will give you more sites if you want it. I also like the Sky Safari app.
With COVID still a big deal, I don’t recommend going to star parties or the like, although it is possible that there are some local astronomical companies or observatories that will have telescopes to view Saturn over the course. the next few weeks. If you’re looking to buy a telescope, my buying guide should help you out (and the links in it).
That said, it’s hard to describe in words what it’s like to see Saturn through a telescope, especially for the first time. I have told this story many times, but my parents bought a cheapo department store telescope when I was a kid (probably because Saturn was in opposition then and they saw something about it in the newspaper) and installed it in the driveway. The moment I saw Saturn hanging on the black of space, a perfect ringed gem, I knew I wanted to be an astronomer. It turns out it does. I was right.
If you have a telescope, now is the time to use it! Jupiter, Saturn, the ever-changing face of the Moon… astronomy is a fantastic pastime.
You could say he’s looking up.
[ad_2]
Source link