In late 2010, a monster storm erupted in Saturn’s northern hemisphere. “These observations will give us a full assay of the Saturnian system to see what’s changed, to see how the seasons have evolved since Cassini’s last glimpses and to harness capabilities Webb has that Cassini never did,” said Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester, England, a principal investigator on the program. Astronomers are eager to look for seasonal changes in Saturn’s atmosphere. Now it is summer in the northern hemisphere. Cassini arrived during the southern hemisphere’s summer (winter in the northern hemisphere). However, since the Saturnian year is 30 Earth-years long, each season lasts about 7-1/2 years. Saturn is tilted on its axis just like the Earth, and as a result, it also experiences seasons as it orbits the Sun. Since then, programs like the Hubble Space Telescope’s Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy program and ground-based measurements have been the only way to monitor Saturn. Cassini orbited Saturn for 13 years, from 2004 until the mission ended in 2017 when the spacecraft plunged into Saturn’s atmosphere. Webb will pick up where NASA’s Cassini spacecraft left off. “The data will be made available to the solar system community as soon as possible to show them that Webb can do what we’ve promised them.” “The purpose of this program is to demonstrate the capabilities of Webb for solar system observations, including observing bright objects, tracking moving objects, and spotting faint targets next to bright ones,” Hammel explained. Hammel was selected by NASA as a Webb Interdisciplinary Scientist in 2002. This study will be conducted through a Guaranteed Time Observations program headed up by Heidi Hammel, a planetary astronomer and executive vice president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) in Washington, D.C. After its launch in 2021, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will observe Saturn, its rings, and family of moons as part of a comprehensive solar system program. But there is still a lot to learn about Saturn, especially about the planet’s unique weather and chemistry, as well as the origin of its opulent ring system. Saturn’s stunning rings are a memorable sight in any backyard telescope. In this case, Saturn will climb high in the Northern Hemisphere's sky at night because it is opposite the sun, which is high in the sky on the daytime side.įollow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.If you stop a random person on the sidewalk and ask them what their favorite planet is, chances are their answer will be Saturn. Opposition occurs when a planet appears opposite the sun in Earth's sky. Understanding how opposition works will help, too. That bright point is Jupiter, he told NPR, and Saturn will be the next-brightest point in the sky, west of Jupiter. As a general rule of thumb, Plait recommends finding the brightest point in the night sky (after Venus has set, that is - that planet is easy to recognize because it shines low in the sky after sunset or before sunrise). (Image credit: Dominic Ford/)ĭon't worry if you can't locate a telescope in time, because Saturn is one of the most distant objects that people can view in the sky with the naked eye. This image was created by Dominic Ford from. local time, when Saturn reaches opposition. The night sky when viewed looking south from New York City around 2:00 a.m.
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