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Health & Fitness

The Night Sky - Saturn

The Earth orbits the Sun much faster than Jupiter and is leaving Jupiter behind. Jupiter now looks like a bright star in the west and will soon be behind the Sun. We will have to wait until next year to see it again. But as one door closes another opens. On April 28, 2013 the Earth passed between Saturn and the Sun. This position is called opposition because Saturn is ‘closest’ to the Earth and opposite the Sun. Even at its closest Saturn was still nearly a billion miles away. When near opposition Saturn is well placed for observation and photography. I took this Saturn picture at the Mary Aloysia Hardey Observatory at the Convent of the Sacred Heart on April 26, 2013 at 1:25am. The full ‘Pink Moon’ was nearby in the sky. Since passing opposition Saturn has moved higher into the early evening sky, making it easy to find in the southeast after dark.  

If Jupiter is the king of the planets then Saturn surely is the queen. With brilliant rings of almost pure ice it truly is a thing of beauty. Five or six of Saturn’s moons can be seen with a telescope. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant composed mainly of Hydrogen and Helium. Saturn is the only planet with a density less than water.

We have a ‘ring side’ seat at the Bowman Observatory. The Bowman observatory is open for viewing Saturn and the night Sky 8:30 to 10:30 on the SECOND and FOURTH Tuesdays of each month. It is the silver domed building located on the grounds of Julian Curtiss School and is open WEATHER PERMITTING. Don’t miss getting a close-up view of Saturn through the Bowman Observatory telescope over the next few months.

Starry Nights!


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