It’s another entry for the “In Galileo’s Shadow” column.
This year’s “Parade of Planets” continues with not just one planet at opposition this summer (a.k.a. Jupiter), but now Saturn!
Similar to my last article, there’s another great opportunity for astronomers that are both occasional and experienced. Right now, the planet Saturn is in “Opposition”, meaning that relative to Earth, it’s on the opposite side of Earth from the side that the Sun is closest.
This image shows exactly what is meant by this. This also means that a large part of Saturn’s surface area is visible to Earth (if you don’t count it’s famed rings), which will make it for the immediate time the second brightest object in the night sky.
THE PLANET SATURN AND DETAILS
Some interesting facts about Saturn came out when I did some research recently. Saturn can be seen without the need of a telescope or binoculars (but you won’t be able to see it’s famed rings unless you do).
Saturn is the fifth brightest object in the solar system and as before, is also easily studied through binoculars or a small telescope. Saturn was known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and Far Eastern observers. It is named for the Roman god Saturnus and was known to the Greeks as Cronus.
Saturn is the 6th planet from the sun, as shown here. Saturn is the flattest planet. Its polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter, this is due to its low density and fast rotation. Saturn turns on its axis once every 10 hours and 34 minutes giving it the second-shortest day of any of the solar system’s planets. Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years. Its slow movement against the backdrop of stars earned it the nickname of “Lubadsagush” from the ancient Assyrians. The name means “oldest of the old”.
Saturn’s upper atmosphere is divided into bands of clouds. The top layers are mostly ammonia ice. Below them, the clouds are largely water ice. Below are layers of cold hydrogen and sulfur ice mixtures. Saturn’s atmosphere is composed primarily of hydrogen (96%) and helium (3%) with traces of other substances like methane, ammonia, acetylene, ethane, propane, and phosphine. Winds in the upper atmosphere can reach speeds of 500 meters a second, these combined with heat rising from within the planet’s interior cause yellow and gold bands.
Saturn has oval-shaped storms similar to Jupiter’s. The region around its north pole has a hexagonal-shaped pattern of clouds. Scientists think this may be a wave pattern in the upper clouds. The planet also has a vortex over its south pole that resembles a hurricane-like storm.
Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen. It exists in layers that get denser farther into the planet. Eventually, deep inside, the hydrogen becomes metallic. At the core lies a hot interior.
Saturn is the second largest of the Jovian planets, or Gas Giants. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the four Jovian. Saturn and Jupiter are similar, while Uranus and Neptune are the most alike.
While all the gas giants in our solar system have rings none of them are as extensive or distinctive as Saturn’s. The rings were discovered by Galileo Galilei 1610 who observed them with a telescope. The first ‘up close’ view of the rings was by Pioneer 11 spacecraft which flew by Saturn on September 1, 1971.
Saturn’s rings are made up of are billions of particles that range in size from tiny dust grains to objects as large as mountains. These are made up of chunks of ice and rock, believed to have come from asteroids comets or even moons, that broke apart before they reached the planet.
Saturn’s rings are divided into 7 groups, named alphabetically in the order of their discovery (Outwards from Saturn; D, C, B, A, F, G, and E). The F ring is kept in place by two of Saturn’s moons, Prometheus and Pandora, these are referred to as ‘shepherd moons’. Other satellites are responsible for creating divisions in the rings as well as shepherding them.
Saturn has 150 moons and smaller moonlets.
All are frozen worlds. The largest moons are Titan and Rhea. Enceladus appears to have an ocean below its frozen surface.
Titan is a moon with a complex and dense nitrogen-rich atmosphere. It is composed mostly of water ice and rock. Its frozen surface has lakes of liquid methane and landscapes covered with frozen nitrogen. Planetary scientists consider Titan to be a possible harbor for life, but not Earth-like life.
Finally, four spacecraft have visited Saturn. Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and the Cassini-Huygens mission have all studied the planet. Cassini orbited Saturn from July 2004 until September 2017, sending back a wealth of data about the planet, its moons, and rings.
THE TELESCOPE SETUP
To see Saturn the closest, I chose the 10mm eyepiece to increase the power. In my case, I again used my small traveling telescope which is a Celestron Travel Scope 70.
I then queried the SkyGuide app (that I’ve used for the past 2 years) to see when and where Saturn would rise during the evening hours. On July 9, it is positioned near constellations Sagittarius, just behind Jupiter’s visible trajectory by about 1 hour (and visible at the same time as well), with the Moon to the upper right. Everything was ready once again . . .
GETTING A CLEAR VIEW
Around 9:30 PM Arizona time, I took a look. With the telescope, I could clearly make out Saturn and it’s famed rings.
The upper left shows the image I saw, but the iPhone was more blurry. The bottom image would be what I would have seen if I had a stronger telescope. Motivation to get one for sure! 🔭💫
Even if you’ve missed the July 9th Saturn-Max Opposition date, there should still be plenty of great opportunities to see Saturn throughout the rest of July 2019. You can also still get great views of Jupiter and it’s four Galilean moons like last month (although slightly further away as Earth moves on it’s orbital course around the Sun). As before, you could use a pair of binoculars, a small telescope similar to what it was he was here, or go down to an observatory that might be close to you.
For The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, I’m Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski. 🔭 ⭐️
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