Thursday, March 31, 2011

Golden rings in the night

Jupiter's gone behind the sun, Venus is sinking from prominence in the morning sky. Oh, what could there possibly be worth to look at in the spring evening skies?

Hmmm...I don't know. How about this!

Well, not all of us can image planets like a Donald Parker or Christopher Go but so what!? Even a modest telescope will show you Saturn's rings and a larger telescope will bring out all kinds of details that are just, well, stunning! Throw in its own retinue of visible moons - Tethys, Dione, Titan, Rhea, Iapetus and even Enceladus from time to time! - and you've got an evening not easily forgotten!

I could tell you all kinds of things scientific about Saturn, but that information is available courtesy of NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. So instead, let me just tell you that, if you want to find it, it's in the ecliptic constellation of Virgo, not too far from the wonderful double star Porrima.

Oh, and I'm also posting an image I've taken of Saturn in the past. Yeah, I know, not as good as a Don Park or Chris Go, but still...!

Clear skies!