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Opposites
Attract: Saturn Lures Earthly Admirers
The
idea that opposites attract may be a romantic cliché. But
when Saturn is at opposition, as it will be this month, it is
most certainly an attraction for Saturn-watchers around the
world.
The
ringed planet captured by Saturn Observation Campaign
members Jeff Barton and Josh Walawender.
Credit:
Barton and Walawender.
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Opposition is when the Sun
and Saturn are lined up directly across from each other with
Earth in the center. This year opposition occurs on Saturday,
Feb. 10, just a few days before Valentine's Day. It's the time
when Saturn comes closest to Earth and is easiest to see from our
terrestrial vantage point. It puts Saturn back in the evening sky
for viewing until June 2007.
Saturn's admirers are taking
advantage of this opportunity. "I'm calling it a
Saturn-a-thon," says Jane Houston Jones, of the events
planned for observing Saturn during opposition this coming
Saturday, a day named, incidentally for the same Roman god as the
ringed planet. Jones heads up JPL's Saturn Observation Campaign,
an international group of volunteers who share with the public
their enthusiasm for viewing the ringed beauty, both through
ground-based telescopes and the instruments onboard the Cassini
spacecraft. The program includes more than 350 members, many of
whom are amateur astronomers, in 45 U.S. states and 52 countries.
There are going to be Saturn-viewing events all around
the world," Jones says, "from California, Wisconsin and
North Carolina to New Zealand, Peru and Argentina. More than 20
events have been planned for Germany alone."
"The
idea for the Saturn Observation Campaign to plan a worldwide
observing night came from Bob Larcher of the European Association
for Astronomy Education," Jones says. "We tried to get
as many members as possible to organize events on the same night,
and then we'll share images, photographs, drawings, poems, and
notes afterward. This is our first try, and we'll do it again
next year."
ane
Houston Jones shows off her homemade Dobsonian reflector
telescope she'll be pointing at Saturn in the coming months.
Credit:
Morris Jones
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When Saturn comes in for
its close-up with Earth, the period just before and after are
good times to see the planet. "This year, January through
June are the best months to view Saturn," explains Jones.
"In February, it rises at sunset and sets at dawn, so you
don't have to get up in the middle of the night to see it. You
can start looking for it as soon as the Sun sets. It is easy to
see even from the city. Saturn will be a great target for many
months to come. Observers in colder climes will appreciate that!"
Since Saturn tilts on its axis, as does Earth, it appears
to wear its rings at different angles depending on its
relationship to Earth. "We had a nearly edge-on view of the
rings in 1995 and 1996," says Jones. "The ring tilt
increased year by year to a maximum tilt of 27 degrees in early
2003. Since then, the tilt of the rings has been decreasing and
will keep closing slightly each year until 2009, when we'll again
see an edge-on, or nearly invisible view of the rings." This
year, Jones says, the tilt of the rings will narrow from 15.4
degrees to 6.7 degrees by December.
"Saturn is
brighter this year than it will be until 2015," explains
Jones, "due to a slight dimming as the ring tilt becomes
more narrow and Saturn's distance from Earth increases."
The Cassini, spacecraft of course, now in its third year
orbiting in the Saturnian system, doesn't have the same
constraints as observers from Earth and continues to provide
spectacular images of what has been called the most beautiful
planet in our solar system.
"As wonderful as the
Cassini images of Saturn are," says Jones, "it is still
incredibly exciting to look through a telescope and see this
spectacular planet with your own eyes."
For more
information on the Saturn Observing Campaign, go to
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
Source
/ Credit: NASA / JPL
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