Saturno

01 Astronomers may have a handle on how ’Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to visit our Solar System, was formed. A new scenario based on computer simulations suggests the elongated, cigar-shaped body may be a fragment of a planetary body

On the 7 February 1980 episode of The Sky at Night, Patrick Moore was joined by Saturn enthusiast and artist Paul Doherty, who often produced artwork for the show. The pair were taking a look at the ringed planet – or rather, the un-ringed planet, as

BEST TIME TO SEE: 20 January, around 19:00 UT for the Lunar X and V; 25 January, from 23:00 UT for the M35 occultation The Moon is a popular target for January; a bright, easy to locate object if you have been lucky enough to receive a new telescope

This truly is one of the most stand-out weeks of the year. If you’re into astrology, it’s time to pay attention! Two of the biggest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, are both changing signs within days of each other. They are ending one 200-year cycle and

“SLIPPING the surly bonds of Earth” was balm for the Covid-bound soul this week. The phrase comes from a soaring sonnet, titled High Flight, by John Gillespie Magee jr, a 19-year-old American airman who was killed in action near Britain in December 1

BEST TIME TO SEE: Activity between 4–17 December, peak night 13/14 December Which is the best meteor shower of the year? Most would probably say the August Perseids; with a peak zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 110 meteors per hour and occurring under t

If you’ve never seen Mercury – and there are plenty of astronomers, even experienced ones, who haven’t – November is your chance! The closest planet to the Sun moves out to greatest western elongation – when it appears at its greatest distance to the

WIN £50 Puzzle 12 What name is given to the annual awards presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films? The prize answer is the one missing from the grid. ASTEROID COMET EARTH GALAXY JUPITER MARS MERCURY METEOR MOON NEPTUNE P

The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was named after Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini and Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens. Cassini discovered four of Saturn’s moons in the 17th century, as well as the gap between rings A and B – now known as

■ If you could put Saturn and Earth next to each other, it would be like putting a soccer ball next to a marble. At its equator, Saturn is nine-and-a-half times the diameter of Earth. ■ It’s unlikely that life exists on Saturn as temperatures hover a

This month’s challenge is to record the current meeting between bright planets Jupiter and Saturn, and the very dim dwarf planet Pluto. Where Jupiter and Saturn are easy to spot with the naked eye, to see Pluto visually requires a large aperture inst

“I have no doubt that humans will one day fly by the rings of Saturn. We have already sent probes to Saturn, although there weren’t any people in them. The most recent voyage there was undertaken by the Cassini-Huygens probe, which has just completed

100km below Titan’s surface is an ocean of liquid water where organic material from the surface may be able to mix with the water to produce monocellular organisms also known as protozoans. Adrone with eight rotors ploughs its way through Titan’s den

In some ways, summer stargazing is great because of the warmer nights. But the shorter nights mean that there’s a much smaller window of darkness. That’s why it’s a great time to look for the brighter objects in the sky, like planets, which are still

1 Mar at 24:00 AEDT (13:00 UT) 15 Mar at 23:00 AEDT (12:00 UT) 31 Mar at 22:00 AEDT (11:00 UT) The chart accurately matches the sky on the dates and times shown for Sydney, Australia. The sky is different at other times as the stars crossing it

Best time to see: 1 April, from 75 minutes before sunrise Altitude: 5˚ (low) Location: Capricornus Direction: Southeast Features: Phase, dark markings, polar caps and weather Recommended equipment: 75mm or larger Mars remains low as seen from the UK

With Saturn at opposition this month, now is a great time to see it. Even a modest scope will reveal the distinctive ring system. Other planets may have rings, but none as spectacular as Saturn’s. Galileo was first to observe the rings in 1610, but h

Best time to see: 20 July, From 00:00 BST (23:00 UT) Altitude: 16 ° Location: Sagittarius Direction: South Features: Rings, atmospheric belts, occasional storms, moons Recommended equipment: 150mm or larger The planet Saturn reaches opposition on 20

As gas giant planets in our Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn are pretty similar to each other. They have similar compositions and are both several hundred times more massive than Earth, and so very much in a class of their own even compared to the ic

Later this month stargazers are in for a treat, when two giants of the night sky, Saturn and Jupiter, both reach opposition within a week of each other. Around this time they’ll be close together, and at their highest and brightest in the sky. We’ve

Mars is the planet in the spotlight this spring, reaching opposition on October 14. You can read all about viewing the Red Planet in our opposition coverage beginning on page 58. But there’s plenty of other planetary viewing to be had at the moment,

For the record, let’s look at some quick facts about certain current transits. Mars stations retrograde on September 9 at 28 Aries. Jupiter stations direct on September 12 at 17 Capricorn. Saturn stations direct early on September 29 at 25 Capricorn.

Our writers expand their (and our) horizons in an eclectic range of astro-centric books. Below are some recently published volumes by AS&T contributors. The contact paradox: Challenging our assumptions in the search for extraterrestrial intelligenc

Editor’s Note: This article is part of the series “What Is the Best Planet?” I usually don’t criticize my colleagues in public but I would like to draw attention to two articles in The Atlantic—one by Adrienne LaFrance ‘Jupiter Is the Best Planet’ a

Saturn is the planet in our galaxy with the most moons – a total of 82. Previously Jupiter was believed to have the most – 79 – but last year American scientists discovered another 20 moons orbiting Saturn. ■