|
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.
|