by APOD Robot » Sat Jun 17, 2017 4:09 am
Saturn near Opposition
Explanation: Saturn reached its 2017 opposition on June 16. Of course, opposition means opposite the Sun in Earth's sky and
near opposition Saturn is up all night, at its closest and brightest for the year.
This remarkably sharp image of the ringed planet was taken only days before, on June 11, with a 1-meter telescope from the mountain top
Pic du Midi observatory. North is at the top with the giant planet's north
polar storm and
curious hexagon clearly seen bathed in sunlight. But Saturn's spectacular
ring system is also shown in stunning detail. The narrow Encke division is visible around the entire outer A ring, small ringlets can be traced within the fainter inner C ring, and Saturn's southern hemisphere can be glimpsed through the wider Cassini division. Near opposition Saturn's rings also appear exceptionally bright, known as the
opposition surge or Seeliger Effect. Directly illuminated from Earth's perspective, the ring's icy particles cast no shadows and strongly backscatter sunlight creating the dramatic increase in brightness. Still,
the best views of the ringed planet are currently from the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft.
Diving close, Cassini's Grand Finale orbit number 9
is in progress.
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[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170617.html][img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_170617.jpg[/img] [size=150]Saturn near Opposition[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Saturn reached its 2017 opposition on June 16. Of course, opposition means opposite the Sun in Earth's sky and [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170610.html]near opposition Saturn[/url] is up all night, at its closest and brightest for the year. [url=https://twitter.com/peachastro/status/875394443305766912/photo/1]This remarkably sharp image[/url] of the ringed planet was taken only days before, on June 11, with a 1-meter telescope from the mountain top [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080125.html]Pic du Midi[/url] observatory. North is at the top with the giant planet's north [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130502.html]polar storm[/url] and [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120122.html]curious hexagon[/url] clearly seen bathed in sunlight. But Saturn's spectacular [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn]ring system[/url] is also shown in stunning detail. The narrow Encke division is visible around the entire outer A ring, small ringlets can be traced within the fainter inner C ring, and Saturn's southern hemisphere can be glimpsed through the wider Cassini division. Near opposition Saturn's rings also appear exceptionally bright, known as the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_surge]opposition surge[/url] or Seeliger Effect. Directly illuminated from Earth's perspective, the ring's icy particles cast no shadows and strongly backscatter sunlight creating the dramatic increase in brightness. Still, [url=https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturn-tour/where-is-cassini-now/]the best views[/url] of the ringed planet are currently from the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft. [url=https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/grand-finale-orbit-guide/]Diving close[/url], Cassini's Grand Finale orbit number 9 [url=https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/grand-finale-orbit-guide/#Orbit_09]is in progress[/url].
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