Event Date: July 3rd
Time: 9:00 PM
Brief
Saturn has been in binocular view of Spica for nearly a year; back and forth in prograde and retrograde has let us see them between from 8º to under 5º apart. This range of separation suits most types of binoculars, giving us two very different types of planets to observe: one is covered with rust and about 1/18th the diameter of the gaseous other with spectacular rings. Of course, Saturn's rings are barely visible with even the most powerful of binoculars. Using a small telescope with a magnification of 80x lets us see them well, while a more powerful telescope lets us see them much more clearly.
This evening, we come back to the pair of planets, with Mars catching up with Saturn. When we last "checked in" with them, Mars was over 30º apart. Now with both in the constellation of Virgo, Mars faster motion in pro-grade has it within 23º apart. Watch Mars close in further over the next five weeks, with celestial paths seen here.
Time: 9:00 PM
Brief
Saturn has been in binocular view of Spica for nearly a year; back and forth in prograde and retrograde has let us see them between from 8º to under 5º apart. This range of separation suits most types of binoculars, giving us two very different types of planets to observe: one is covered with rust and about 1/18th the diameter of the gaseous other with spectacular rings. Of course, Saturn's rings are barely visible with even the most powerful of binoculars. Using a small telescope with a magnification of 80x lets us see them well, while a more powerful telescope lets us see them much more clearly.
This evening, we come back to the pair of planets, with Mars catching up with Saturn. When we last "checked in" with them, Mars was over 30º apart. Now with both in the constellation of Virgo, Mars faster motion in pro-grade has it within 23º apart. Watch Mars close in further over the next five weeks, with celestial paths seen here.
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Above in the image via their paths, we see Saturn just beginning to increase in pro-grade motion after reaching stationary a little over a week ago. We also see how it has become closer and further from Spica during the retrograde, although the difference in separation has hardly been noticeable through binoculars. Mars' path displays the last days of retrograde and then several days of prograde. The 10-day increment markers spread out as Mars picks up pro-grade rate.
After the August closest encounter between the two, as a reminder, Mars separates from Saturn much faster, eventually moving only slightly slower than the Sun west to east against the stars by the time of its conjunction with our star late next winter. It will not revisit Saturn again until almost exactly two years after this upcoming August conjunction with the ringed, gas giant. By that time, the two meet in the next constellation that Saturn visits after Virgo: Libra, which Saturn enters September 1st of next year, at precisely 12:15 local time (19:15 GMT).
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