Saturday, June 29 Saturn currently shines at magnitude 0.5 among the background stars of eastern Virgo, where it sits just 0.4° (slightly less than the width of a Full Moon) due south of the 4th-magnitude star Kappa (κ) Virginis. The planet reaches its maximum altitude in the south around 9 p.m. local daylight time and doesn’t set until well after midnight. Although Saturn looks attractive enough with naked eyes, it doesn’t dazzle until you view it through a telescope. Even a small instrument reveals the distant world’s 18"-diameter disk and the spectacular rings, which span 40" and tilt 17° to our line of sight.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 12:36:38 +0000
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