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Close encounter with lord of the rings
DEC 28 - On 1st January 2004 at 2:43 a.m., the
early morning of New Year, Saturn (Shani) will be closer to Earth than at any time since December 1973. On New Year Eve, December 31, 2003, it will be visible on the skyline after sunset at 5:13 p.m. in the north-eastern sky, reaching its highest point (transits time: 11:59 p.m.) in the southern sky at midnight, brightest in the western sky at 2:43 a.m. on January 1, 2004, and sets at 6:50 a.m. in the north-western sky as the sun rises. At the closest approach time, the planet will be opposite the sun in relation to Earth, will be 748.3 million miles away from Earth. The ringed-planet will be about 40 million miles closer to us. A similar opportunity won’t come again for another 30 years as it will not come closer to us until January 2034.
The lord of the rings will be brighter than at any time in three decades. Saturn can be spotted in the constellation of Gemini, where it will shine as the third brightest object in the sky after Sirius and Canopus. The planet will be visible with unaided eye throughout the night. End of the Old Year (31 December 2003) through to beginning of the New Year (1 January 2004) will be the Night of Saturn.
Planet Saturn: Saturn is the sixth planet outward in orbit around the sun and is the telescopic showpiece of the winter night sky, thanks to its great ring system in all of its icy, glimmering elegance. The planet will be seen in the night sky as a very bright yellowish-white “star” hovering along the constellation Gemini. There is no object in orbit around the sun whose appearance is more awesome and spectacular than the planet Saturn. In terms of sheer size, Saturn dwarfs all the other planets except Jupiter, but its incredible system of rings puts it visually in a class by itself.
Saturn does not have distinctive colour, appearing simply as a pale yellow globe. Unidentified molecules produce the colours seen in the planets. The occurrence of Saturn being in opposition to Earth happens every 378.1 days. The planet requires 29.5 years to complete it orbit around the sun and rotates on its axis in 10 hours 40 minutes. The principal gases in the atmospheres of Saturn are helium (6 percent) and molecular hydrogen (94 percent). The ratio of hydrogen to helium is almost seven to one. The clouds of the planet are made primarily of ammonia, ammonium hydrasulfide, and water, all of which are colourless. The temperature structure of Saturn’s atmosphere resembles that of Earth’s.
The Rings: Saturn’s rings can be seen with even the smallest telescope but with 12 inches telescope or larger the view is spell binding. First-time observers are rendered speechless in wonder but also even veteran scientists are still surprised with their chilling beauty and size. The rings of Saturn are enormous in extent. From one edge to the other, they measure more than two-thirds the distance from Earth to the Moon. They consist of trillions of tiny ice moonlets whirling about Saturn, each in its own orbit, in periods ranging from 4 hours at the inner edge to 14 hours at the outer edge. Rings debris move in steady procession with relatively few collisions. The denser sectors consist of particles the size of a speck of dust to boulders the size of a house. The particles forming the ring are coated with fine, dust-like ice.
The rings of Saturn are more reflective than the planet’s clouds and are therefore noticeably brighter. Saturn’s rings are about 200,000 km across, but in most places, less than 200 m thick. The outer part of the ring rotates faster than the inner part. Close-up pictures of rings revealed many strange things in the rings, including spokes, braids and waves. Some of the waves had a spiral shape, like the spiral arms of galaxies. Also, rings consist of many narrow ringlets separated by gaps. If you are lucky, you might observe with telescope brightness differences in the rings, which are really several distinct ringlets that are called as A, B, C, D, E, F and G rings.
The times when the earliest dinosaurs roamed in the Earth, Saturn had no bright rings. Planetary rings were probably formed relatively recently when a body, perhaps a moon-sized object from the outer solar system, approached a planet too closely and was destroyed. Even today there are many features of planetary rings that are still not yet well understood by scientists.
Saturn’s Moons: Saturn controls a family of at least 31 moons. Saturn’s largest moon Titan, and the second largest moon Rhea can both be seen with even the smallest telescope. Three other moons, Enceladus, Dione and Tehys are visible with 6 inches telescope or larger. Titan, the largest and slightly bigger than the planet Mercury, is most interesting of all moons in the Solar system. It is the second largest moon in the Solar system (after Ganymede of Jupiter’s) and is the only known moon with a fully developed atmosphere. It has a denser atmosphere and cloud cover than Earth’s.
Titan’s atmosphere is extremely rich in nitrogen, the same element that makes up the greatest part of the Earth’s atmosphere. Water ice is also present on Titan beneath surface, possibly extending up into the atmosphere in the form of ice-mountain. The presence of nitrogen, thick hydrocarbon atmosphere and water indicate that the Titan’s atmosphere is very much like that of the Earth’s atmosphere four billion years ago. Therefore, Titan has prebiotic ‘soup’ to harbour life or living microorganisms that covered the Earth in those bygone days. If human cannot find life on Mars then the next target would certainly be a visit to Titan to search for life. Posted on: 2003-12-29 06:14
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