The celestial phenomena of Saturn's clash with the sun, Saturn's reunion with the supermoon, will be staged in the near future
According to the Guangzhou Wuyang Astronomical Museum's prediction on the 25th, celestial phenomena such as Saturn's clash with the sun and Saturn's reunion with the super moon will take place in the near future.
It is reported that Saturn's solar eclipse will occur on August 27th, when Saturn, Earth, and the Sun form an approximately straight line. Saturn is closest to Earth and the brightest. If the weather is clear, it can be seen with the naked eye all over the country. The best time to observe and photograph Saturn is at night.
Saturn's opposition to the sun means that Saturn is in the opposite direction of the sun. On that day, the sun set in the west, Saturn rose in the east, and Saturn was visible all night. During the solar eclipse, Saturn is closest to Earth and has the highest visual brightness, reaching 0.4 stars, slightly inferior to Vega in the constellation Cygnus.
Among the eight major planets in the solar system, Saturn's rings are the most eye-catching. Experts say that due to Saturn's orbital period around the Sun being 29.46 years, the inclination angle of Saturn's rings also has a period of about 30 years, with Saturn's rings disappearing every 15 years. When the thinnest side of Saturn's rings faces Earth, the rings will briefly disappear. The disappearance of Saturn's rings occurred last in September 2009, and the next will occur in March 2025. During this year's Saturn solar eclipse, the inclination angle of Saturn's rings is approximately 10 degrees. From 2009 to 2025, the public can see Saturn's rings visible above. After 2025, the public can witness below Saturn's rings. By using a telescope with a diameter greater than 100 millimeters, Saturn's beautiful halo and its largest satellite, Titan, can be clearly seen.
At 18:50 on August 27th in Guangzhou, the sun set in the west. 60 minutes later, Saturn can be seen appearing in the low eastern southern sky, located in the constellation of Aquarius. At 0:27 the next day, Saturn ascended to the mid sky, located in the due south direction, with a horizon height of 55 degrees, becoming a true "compass".
Recently, the time of mid day on Saturn around the world has been about 4 minutes earlier than the previous day. After Saturn's impact on the sun, it is suitable to observe in the first half of the night in various places. At 2am on August 31st, the supermoon and Saturn reunited, and the distance between the two was very close, about 2 degrees. In late August to early September, not far to the southeast of Saturn, the brightest star in the constellation of Pisces, "Beiluoshimen," can be found. Its apparent magnitude is 1.17, slightly darker than Taurus. Beiluoshimen is one of the ancient "Nine Navigation Stars".
Experts say that Saturn's solar eclipse occurs on average once every 378 days; The last occurrence was on August 15, 2022, and the next occurrence will be on September 8, 2024.