Saturn Prominent

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30534, 1 September 1964, Page 10

Saturn Prominent

Now that Mercury has vanished from the evening sky, interest in the planets must swing to Saturn. It is easy to locate each night as it climbs in the eastern sky. By 8 p.m. it is high enough to make a splendid showing in any good quality telescope. Of course the bigger the telescope the better will be the view obtained but even a 2in. telescope can show the rings surrounding Saturn and its largest satellite, Titan, as well. A 3in. telescope will allow the break (known as Cassini’s division) in the rings to be seen - if conditions are right. It should also bring in Rhea, Saturn’s second largest satellite.

In the early morning sky the two brilliant planets, Venus and Jupiter, are still capturing everyone’s gaze. There is no mistaking them —Venus in the north-east and

i Jupiter in the north-west make even the brightest of the stars seem pale by comparison. A third planet, Mars, is also to be seen for an hour or so before morning twilight. It is to the left of Venus now and is very much the fainter of the two. However. Mars is slowly getting brighter and by the end of the year it will be a full magnitude brighter than it is at the moment.

Technically, the planet Mercury is also in the early morning sky for the whole of this month. But no-one will see it because of its closeness to the sun. It is at present speeding away from us and, after passing within 29 million miles of the sun on September 21, it will travel round the far side of the sun and slip back into the evening sky in mid-October. Even then, however, it will not be readily visible.

Planet Visibility Table Sept. 2 Sept 16 Sept. 30 Saturn due north 11.58 p.m. 10.59 p.m. 10.01 p.m. Saturn sets .. 6.52 a.m. 5.54 a.m. 4.57 a.m. Jupiter rises .. 12.34 a.m. 11.37 p.m. 10.39 p.m. Jupiter due north 5.22 a.m. 4.28 a.m. 3.31 a.m. Mars rises . 4.52 a.m. 4.27 a.m. 3.59 a.m. Venus rises . 4.41 a.m. 4.38 a.m. 4.31 a.m.