Saturn at Opposition July 9th
Ask amateur telescope users what's the most beautiful object in the sky, and many of them will say Saturn. Viewing Saturn in a good telescope often draws amazement and disbelief from visitors who have never seen it before.
Saturn is such a treat for observers because its stunning rings offer a unique 3 dimensional observing experience. See the image below and look for some of Saturn's distinct 3 dimensional features. The shadow on the rings, equatorial bands, and the Cassini division.
Saturn will be at its brightest between June 29 to July 22. On July 9, the Earth overtakes Saturn in our race around the sun. The planet will appear at opposition, and visible all night. Saturn, with rings now tipped 24 degrees from edgewise will provide an excellent opportunity for observation.
Opposition is the best time of year for observing because the planet is up all night and has the closest proximity to Earth. We recommend being patient and using a high quality 4 inch or larger scope. Saturn is a small object the disc representing 1/6 the size of Jupiter. Over-magnification causes blurriness making the planet an excellent test of your atmospheric conditions and optics quality.
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Low cost, large diameter, and fast focal ratio of the Sky-Watcher Dobsonians On Sale Now! Starting at $285.
The Celestron CPC Series with revolutionary SkyAlign Alignment Technology, GPS, unsurpassed optical quality, ease of set-up and use. On Sale Now! Starting at $1799
