On December 3rd, Saturn will be at opposition—directly opposite the Sun as seen from Earth.
(Shown about an hour after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes. Inset shows an overhead view of part of our solar system.)
Scheduled air date: 2001 Dec 03-09
On December 3rd, Saturn will be at opposition—directly opposite
the Sun as seen from Earth.
(Shown about an hour after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes. Inset shows
an overhead view of part of our solar system.)
Even a small telescope can reveal Saturn's rings. Saturn appears higher in
the sky (around local midnight) during this opposition than it has in nearly 30 years. Because of
this, and because its rings are presently tilted toward us at about their
maximum amount, now is the best time to view Saturn's rings since the
1970's.
While most meteor showers are caused by comet dust, the Geminid Meteor Shower is
believed to actually be caused by asteroid dust. This shower will reach
its peak the night of the 13th-14th. The above illustrates that these
meteors appear to originate from a point (marked by the red "+"
symbol) within the constellation Gemini, however they can appear anywhere in the
sky. The best viewing time will be between local midnight and twilight on
Friday, December 14th.
(Shown about 2:00 AM for mid-Northern latitudes.)
If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.
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TheSky Astronomy
Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc. |