Tag Archives: Saturn

In the Sky This Week – August 14, 2018

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This entry is part 56 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

The constellation Orion is now fully visible in the eastern predawn sky; I had someone at a Perseid meteor party ask me if Orion was what they were seeing in the east – I laughed and mentioned my post from last week where Orion had not quite fully risen before sunrise. The southern sky will be simply fantastic for observing this week, with 3 three planets splashed across the sky. The Moon joins the planets in the south later this week; this weekend will be an outstanding time to do some sidewalk astronomy – which is exactly what my wife and I will be doing at the Michigan ComicCon this weekend at Detroit’s Cobo Center! The Moon joins Venus and Jupiter in the western sky at dusk on Aug. 14th. Southern Hemisphere: From Antonina, Brazil, Venus and the crescent Moon are high in the western sky after sunset on Aug. 14th. The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent visible … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – August 7, 2018

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This entry is part 55 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Fall stars have appeared in the eastern predawn skies; the constellation Orion is low in the east, a thin waning crescent Moon near it for the next few days. Over the coming weeks, Orion will appear a bit higher each morning as it moves slowly towards the southeast. Mars and Saturn continue to be a great observing targets in the southern skies for weeks to come! Jupiter crawls slowly westward as the Earth continues to pull away from the giant planet; Jupiter will continue to dim over the next several weeks, and will set earlier each evening. Venus is catching up with the Earth, and appears lower each evening in the western sky at dusk. The current half-phase of Venus is quite obvious in telescopes. Southern Hemisphere: From Buenos Aires, Argentina, the waning crescent Moon and Orion appear in the east-northeastern sky predawn sky. The Moon and Orion appear flipped from how I see them in Michigan – the Moon … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 31, 2018

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This entry is part 54 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars opposition happened last week with the Earth overtaking Mars in its orbit; the Earth will now pull ahead of Mars as the distance between the two planets increases over the next several months. Mars will slowly dim, and shrink in size in telescopes, but should still be a good observing target for several weeks. Jupiter is in the southwestern sky at dusk and sets around 11:30 PM; Saturn is an excellent observing target all night long in the southern sky. Jupiter continues a slow crawl towards the Venus in the west; Venus appears a bit lower in the western sky each evening. Southern Hemisphere: From Montevideo, Uruguay, Venus is high in the west-northwestern sky at 5:00 PM on July 31 2018, and as you’ll note, it’s dark. Jupiter is VERY high in the northwestern sky. Mars is high in the eastern sky from Montevideo at 5:00 PM on July 31 2018, Saturn appearing much higher and opposite side from … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 24, 2018

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This entry is part 53 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars opposition happens this week; several people told me recently that they’ve seen Mars in the southwestern sky during the early morning hours. I find myself looking for Mars almost automatically now. Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and the Moon make sidewalk astronomy almost too easy for the next few days. A friend and I set up our telescopes on a small hill, along a busy road in Calumet Michigan. We had a couple families with children show up and they got to see them all! We got some stunned “WOWs!” – those are always nice. The half-Venus was easy to see in the ‘scopes! The Moon The Moon is a waxing gibbous, visible in the southeastern before sky before dusk, and is visible all night long. The Moon will be full on July 27th, after which it will be a waning gibbous, visible in the southeastern sky after sunset. The Moon will appear VERY near to Saturn on July 24th. The … Continue reading →

Titan Under the Haze

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These six infrared images of Saturn’s moon Titan represent some of the clearest, most seamless-looking global views of the icy moon’s surface produced so far. The views were created using 13 years of data acquired by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instrument on board NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The images are the result of a focused effort to smoothly combine data from the multitude of different observations VIMS made under a wide variety of lighting and viewing conditions over the course of Cassini’s mission. Previous VIMS maps of Titan (see images below) display great variation in imaging resolution and lighting conditions, resulting in obvious seams between different areas of the surface. With the seams now gone, this new collection of images is by far the best representation of how the globe of Titan might appear to the casual observer if it weren’t for the moon’s hazy atmosphere, and it likely will not be superseded for some time to come. … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 17, 2018

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This entry is part 52 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

As Mars opposition nears, the planet shines bright in the southwestern sky before sunrise. I find myself looking out my back window for Mars every morning after I awake. The waxing crescent Moon joins Venus in the western sky near sunset; Jupiter appears more to the south, and is a great observing target for several hours after sunset. The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent visible in the western sky around dusk. The Moon will be at first quarter on July 20th, after which it will be a waxing gibbous, visible in the southern sky after sunset. The Moon will be a great observing target all week! The Moon will travel across the southern sky all week; the first quarter Moon will appear close to Jupiter in the south-southwestern sky on July 20th. The waxing gibbous Moon will appear very close to Saturn in the south-southeastern sky on July 24th. Observing Target: M31 – The Andromeda Galaxy M31 – … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 10, 2018

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This entry is part 51 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter and Saturn make great observing targets in the southern sky after sunset; Jupiter sets shortly after 1:00 AM. Mars continues to shine ever brighter as opposition with Earth approaches later this month. Saturn sets in the southwest with the sunrise. Venus and Mercury are visible in the western sky after sunset; Venus continues to appear near the star Regulus for the next few days, and Mercury will likely only be visible for a few minutes before setting. The Big Dipper – an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major, is visible in the northern predawn sky. The Moon The Moon is a waning crescent visible in the eastern predawn sky. The Moon will be new on July 13th, after which it will be a waxing crescent in the western sky shortly after sunset. The waning crescent Moon will appear close to the star Aldebaran in the eastern predawn sky on July 10th. A waxing crescent Moon joins Mercury, Venus and … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 3, 2018

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This entry is part 50 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Bright stars and planets are splashed across the southern sky at midnight; Jupiter and Saturn are both great observing targets all night long! Mars shines bright red in the southern sky before sunrise; Saturn sets in the southwest with the sunrise. Venus continues its vigil in the west as the evening star; you may be able to catch a glimpse of  Mercury shortly after sunset. The star Regulus will appear very near Venus after sunset on July 9th. The Moon The Moon is a waning gibbous heading towards third quarter on July 6th, after which it will be a waning crescent. The waning gibbous Moon will appear in the southern sky with Mars on the 3rd and 4th. A thin waning crescent Moon will appear in the eastern sky with the Pleiades star cluster before sunrise on July 9th. Observing Target: Albireo At the head of Cygnus the swan is Albireo, a star whose name it seems, I will always … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 26, 2018

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This entry is part 49 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars shines like a bright unblinking cinder in the early morning sky; I’m truly astounded at how bright Mars has been getting – and it’s going to continue to brighten until the end of July. This nearing Mars opposition and close approach has been bittersweet for astrophotographers, as the planet is experiencing a global dust storm, and surface features are difficult to resolve. Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers) on Twitter: Mars Storm Watch: The dust storm now circles the planet. No signal yet from Opportunity, but no response is expected until skies begin to clear. We continue to listen daily. https://t.co/VwuuPwEpPA pic.twitter.com/8q7lDoezxs — Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers) June 20, 2018 The Moon will be between Saturn and the bright star Antares on the evening of June 26th. With each passing evening, the bright star Regulus appears a bit lower in the western sky, and is getting closer to Venus. Next week Regulus and Venus will appear very close together! The Moon … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 19, 2018

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This entry is part 48 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter, the Moon, and the stars Arcturus and Spica are all in the same region of the southern sky at 10:30 PM on June 20th. Saturn is low in the southeastern sky, and Jupiter is high in the southern sky after sunset. Mars shines bright red in the southern sky early in the morning; Saturn is a bit lower in the sky, and towards the southwest. A waxing crescent Moon joins Venus in the western sky at sunset. Mercury also makes an appearance low in the western sky – a brief few moments before sunset. Mercury will continue to brighten as it climbs towards Venus until July 1st, after which it will start to descend towards the horizon, vanishing around end of July. The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent and will be at first quarter on June 20th; the Moon will then be a waxing gibbous. This will be a great week for observing the Moon near sunset! … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 12, 2018

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This entry is part 47 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars and Saturn are visible in the southern sky before sunrise. Mars is getting larger in telescopes as we near opposition with the planet at the end of July. Jupiter remains near the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) in the southern sky after sunset on June 12th. Venus is almost aligned with the stars Pollux and Castor shortly after sunset on June 12th. The Moon The Moon is a waning crescent and will be new on June 13th. The Moon will be a waxing crescent after the 13th, visible in the western sky near sunset. Observing Target: NCG 6910 I found this gem while scanning around the constellation Cygnus with my 8 inch Dobsonian telescope. NGC 6910, also known as the Inchworm Cluster, is an open star cluster near the star Sadr in Cygnus. In small telescopes, NGC 6910 appears (kinda) like a three-armed starfish. Time exposures of the cluster reveal the rich nebulosity of emission nebula IC 1316, that the cluster … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 5, 2018

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This entry is part 46 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

The Moon joins Mars and Saturn in the southern sky before sunrise. Jupiter is very close to the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) after sunset on June 5th – so close you might be able to get the double-star and Jupiter with its moons in the same view through a telescope! Venus aligns with the stars Pollux and Castor on June 10th shortly after sunset. The Moon The Moon is a waning gibbous, and will be at third quarter on June 6th. The Moon will be a waning crescent after the 6th, visible low in the eastern sky before dawn. Observing Target: M57 The constellation Lyra is high in the eastern sky after sunset; the boxed area in the image below is the location of M57 – the Ring Nebula: M57 is a planetary nebula – expanding shells of luminous gas expelled by stars at the ends of their lives. Planetary nebulae can be some of the most beautiful objects in … Continue reading →