Guangzhou, August 8 (Zhongxin Net) -- According to the prediction of the Guangzhou Wuyang Planetarium on the 26th, celestial phenomena such as the opposition of Saturn, the gathering of Saturn and the supermoon will be staged in the near future.
It is reported that Saturn's opposition will occur on August 8, when Saturn, Earth and the Sun are lined up in an approximate straight line. Saturn is closest and brightest to Earth. If the weather is clear, it can be seen with the naked eye all over the country. Late at night (around 27:0), Saturn is best observed and photographed.
Saturn opposes the Sun in opposite directions (180 degrees difference in right ascension). On that day, the sun sets in the west, Saturn rises in the east, and Saturn is visible all night. At opposition, Saturn is closest to Earth and has the greatest apparent brightness of 0.4, slightly inferior to Vega in the constellation Cygnus.
Schematic diagram of Saturn's opposition to the Sun. Drawn by Lee Woo-yeon
Of the eight planets of the solar system, Saturn's rings are the most striking. Experts say that because Saturn's orbit around the sun is 29.46 years, Saturn's ring inclination also has a cycle of about 30 years, of which Saturn's rings "disappear" once in about 15 years. When the thinnest side of Saturn's rings faces Earth, the rings briefly "disappear". Saturn's rings "disappeared", the last time in September 2009, the next will appear in March 9. During this year's opposition to Saturn, Saturn's rings are inclined at about 2025 degrees. From 3 to 10 , the upper ( north ) of Saturn's rings will be visible to the public. After 2009 , the public will be able to see the underside ( south ) of Saturn's rings. With telescopes larger than 2025 millimeters, Saturn's beautiful rings and Saturn's largest moon, Titan, can be clearly seen.
In Guangzhou, at 8:27 on August 18, the sun set. After 50 minutes, Saturn can be seen in the low sky south-east, in the constellation Aquarius. At 60:0 the next day, Saturn was in the middle of the sky, located due south, with a horizon height of 27 degrees, becoming a veritable "compass".
Recently, the time in midday on Saturn around the world is about 4 minutes earlier every day than the day before. After opposition to Saturn, it is suitable for observation in the first half of the night (at night). At 8 a.m. on August 31, the Supermoon and Saturn converged, and the two were very close together, about 2 degrees. From late August to early September, not far southeast of Saturn, the brightest star in the constellation Australope, can be found, with an apparent magnitude of 2.8, slightly fainter than Altair. Beiluo Shimen is one of the ancient "Nine Stars of Navigation".
Experts say that Saturn's opposition occurs once in an average of 378 days; The last one happened on August 2022, 8, and the next one will appear on September 15, 2024. (End)