Posts Tagged ‘Rings’
Sky Tonight—April 16, Nearly full moon and Saturn
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Go out at nightfall and look to the east, and you will see the beautiful planet Saturn. It’ll be the star like object close to tonight’s almost-full waxing gibbous moon. Note Saturn’s golden color, if you can. If you can’t, try viewing this world through binoculars. Or better yet, look at Saturn’s golden color and glorious rings through a telescope. That other bright light by the moon is Spica; ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—April 15, Moon shines near Saturn
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Tonight and tomorrow night – April 15 and 16, 2011 – are wonderful times to identify the ringed planet Saturn! The oval-shaped waxing gibbous moon is near the planet both tonight and tomorrow. It’s even closer to Saturn tomorrow than tonight. The day after tomorrow – on Sunday – the full moon will couple up with Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Spica: Speed on Saturn is ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA Explanation: How thin are the rings of Saturn? Brightness measurements from different angles have shown Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick, making them many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade. This thinness sometimes appears in dramatic fashion during an image taken nearly along the ring plane. The robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn has now ... Full Story
