Credit & Copyright: Andy Casely
Explanation:
Ringed planet Saturn
will be at its 2023 opposition,
opposite the Sun in Earth's skies, on August 27.
While that puts the sixth planet from the Sun at its
brightest
and well-placed
for viewing, its beautiful ring system isn't
visible to the unaided eye.
Still, this sequence of telescopic images taken a year
apart over the last six years
follows both Saturn and rings as seen from inner planet Earth.
The gas giant's ring plane tilts
from most open in 2018 to approaching edge-on in 2023 (top to bottom).
That's summer to nearly the autumn
equinox for Saturn's northern hemisphere.
In the sharp planetary portraits, Saturn's northern
hexagon and a large
storm system are clearly visible in 2018.
In 2023, ice moon Tethys
is transiting, casting its shadow across
southern hemisphere cloud bands, while
Saturn's cold blue south pole is emerging
from almost a decade of winter darkness.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr' |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
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Saturn - Saturn
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