Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

saturn

Saturn and Antares Fade in the Western Sky

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Saturn, the bright star Antares, and the Milky Way as seen in early October 2015.
Saturn, the bright star Antares, and the Milky Way as seen in early October 2015.

If you want to see planets this month, you’re best to look in the eastern sky before sunrise. There you’ll see Mars, Venus, and Jupiter congregating and brightening over the next many weeks, along with a visit next week by the waning crescent Moon. But the planet Saturn still lingers in the western evening sky in early October after sunset, tangled among the claws of the fearsome scorpion represented by the constellation Scorpius and its next-door neighbor Libra [Read more…] about Saturn and Antares Fade in the Western Sky

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Saturn at Opposition 2015

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Saturn at the 2014 opposition as imaged by Damian Peach (damianpeach.com)
Saturn at the 2014 opposition as imaged by Damian Peach (damianpeach.com)

The planet Saturn reaches opposition on May 22, 2015. It rises as the Sun sets and makes its closest approach to Earth this year. The planet is as bright as it’s been in eight years, with rings dramatically tilted towards our point of view. This is your best chance in many years to see this beautiful planet in a telescope and share a view of it with others.

Saturn lies well south of the celestial equator this observing season near the border between the constellations Libra and Scorpius in the southeastern sky (as seen from the northern hemisphere) and the eastern sky (as seen from the southern hemisphere). At magnitude 0.0 in late May and early June, Saturn is the brightest object in that part of the sky. It outshines even the brilliant red-orange star Antares to the east. By 10 p.m., you can see the planet low over the horizon, nestled near the three bright stars in the head of Scorpius. You can watch the planet’s motion relative to these stars from night to night over the next few months. It’s been moving ‘in retrograde’ a little westward each day, over and above its daily westward motion. It resumes its normal eastward motion relative to the background stars on August 2 [Read more…] about Saturn at Opposition 2015

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