There’s lately been a lot of stargazing talk about Mars. It’s been as close to Earth as it’s been since 2005, and with that distinctive reddish hue, there’s no way you can miss it in the early low southeast sky. It’s only 47 million miles away — close for Mars. Without a doubt it’s the brightest star-like object you can see in that part of the sky, and the second brightest star-like object in the entire sky right now. Only Jupiter, now in the southwestern evening sky, outshines Mars, but not by much.
There’s a third planet easily available in the low southeast evening sky, two fist-widths to the lower left of Mars: Saturn, the ringed wonder of our solar system.
I believe it’s the most breathtaking planet you can view through a telescope, even a small one. When I’m conducting my astronomy and stargazing programs and Saturn’s available to view, it’s hands-down the favorite. Viewing Saturn can excite folks and really get them jump-started into amateur astronomy. Again, you really don’t need all that big of a telescope to enjoy it, and now is definitely the time to give it a try. It can be seen all night long.
Earth and Saturn are still at about their closest approach to each other for 2016. This is called opposition. That’s when the Earth in its orbit around the sun finds itself in a line between Saturn and the sun. This happened last month with Mars, but in the case of the red planet it only occurs every 25 months. With Saturn we enjoy opposition about every 12½ months, a little over one year.
Even though Saturn is about 837 million miles away, or more than 17 times farther away than Mars, Saturn is about 17 times the diameter of Mars and that’s not even counting the 185,000-mile-wide ring system diameter. I think it’s much more fun to view than Mars. In the right conditions you should be able to easily see the separation between the planet and the ring system, and you’ll probably see at least some of Saturn’s moons, which resemble tiny stars swarming the big planet.
To fully enjoy Saturn though a telescope, timing is everything. You need patience, and it helps to be a night owl. By midnight Saturn should be high enough to avoid at least some atmospheric blurring.
What’s a bummer this summer is that Saturn is not going to get all that high above the horizon, no more than 25 degrees above the southern horizon. So it may still be a little blurry even after midnight, but that’s the celestial card dealt to us this year.
With any kind of stargazing it’s important to let your telescope and all of the eyepieces you’ll be using sit outside for at least 45 minutes before your party with Saturn. They have to acclimate with the outside temperature or you could have some really wacky viewing. Also, start viewing Saturn with your scope using a low-power magnification eyepiece and work yourself up to higher magnification. It’s also important to make yourself comfortable and discipline yourself to take long continuous views through your telescope. Your eye needs to adjust to the level of light coming into your instrument. Remember, no matter how the clear the sky is, upper atmospheric winds can muddy up the image of Saturn or any other planet. Hopefully if you hang in there and keep your eye over that eyepiece long enough, the winds between you and Saturn may calm down enough, at least temporarily, to give you some clear views.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications available at bookstores at http://www.adventurepublications.net
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
