Let’s hope for some clear skies on the morning of 21 August, so we are able to observe the attractive ringed planet Saturn being occulted by the Moon. Each Saturn’s disappearance and reappearance might be noticed from the UK, as Saturn, being only a few weeks away from opposition, is effectively positioned within the morning sky, positioned between 25° and 20° excessive within the south-west.
Saturn is occulted on the vivid northern limb of a 97.5 per cent-illuminated waning gibbous Moon at 4.28am BST from London (4.33am in Edinburgh). The Moon’s robust glare doesn’t assist, although a pair of binoculars and, significantly, a small telescope will present simply sufficient Saturn disappearing behind the lunar limb over the course of a minute or so.
Titan, mendacity near one in every of its most westerly elongations this month, precedes Saturn’s occultation by a minute or so. It additionally pops again into view first, reappearing on the limb of the Moon’s skinny, unlit portion at round 5.13am (4.58am in Edinburgh), with Saturn following on at round 5.20am (5.09am in Edinburgh).
From London, Saturn reappears at that a part of the Moon’s limb adjoining to Mare Crisium, the darkish, round ‘Sea of Crises’. In a high-power telescopic view it’ll be fascinating to observe as Saturn rings start to come back again into view. From Edinburgh although, Saturn reappears 22° additional north alongside the darkish limb.
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