News:Mars and Saturn Get Together

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Ma-Sa Conj in Magha Nakshatra July 11, 2008

Time: 0:09:48Time Zone: 5:30:00 (East of GMT)

Lunar Yr-Mo: Sarva-dhari - AshadhaTithi: Sukla Navami (Su) (94.65% left)

Vedic Weekday: Thursday (Ju)Nakshatra: Chitra (Ma) (38.48% left)Yoga: Siva (Me) (1.77% left)

Karana: Balava (Mo) (89.30% left)Hora Lord: Mercury (5 min sign: Li)

Mahakala Hora: Mercury (5 min sign: Ge)Kaala Lord: Jupiter (Mahakala: Jupiter)

Sunrise: 5:48:49 (July 10)Sunset: 18:39:38 (July 10)

Janma Ghatis: 45.8741Ayanamsa: 23-58-34.30

Sidereal Time: 19:17:10Sun - AK 24 Ge 53' 39.68 " Puna 2 Ge Ta

Moon - DK 1 Li 32' 11.78 " Chit 3 Li LiMars - BK 11 Le 29' 27.90 " Magh 4 Le CnMercury - PiK 5 Ge 54' 13.35 " Mrig 4 Ge Sc

Jupiter ® - AmK 23 Sg 18' 46.88 " PSha 3 Sg LiVenus - GK 3 Cn 36' 30.39 " Push 1 Cn LeSaturn - MK 11 Le 29' 27.89 " Magh 4 Le CnRahu - PK 26 Cp 12' 17.06 " Dhan 1 Cp Le

Ketu 26 Cn 12' 17.06 " Asre 3 Cn Aqhttp://news./s/space/20080627/sc_space/marsandsaturngettogether

Mars and Saturn Get Together

 

 

Joe RaoSPACE.com Skywatching ColumnistSPACE.comFri Jun 27, 7:15 AM ET

 

 

Two bright planets will approach each other in our

evening sky during the next couple of weeks. They are Mars, which was so

brilliant during the Christmas season of 2007 and has since diminished

dramatically in brightness, and Saturn, which has adorned our evening sky since

midwinter.

Both worlds are now visible about one-third of the

way up from the western horizon as darkness falls.

And as a bonus, located between these two planets is

the bright star Regulus[Magha Nakshatra], in the constellation of Leo, the Lion. Yellow-white Saturn, shining sedately

at magnitude +0.4, is located above and to the left of Regulus, while the much

dimmer Mars appears below and to the right of Regulus. At magnitude +1.6, Mars

has now fallen to the rank of second magnitude and appears only one-half as

bright as Saturn. Regulus, meanwhile is roughly midway in brightness between

the two planets.

On this scale of brightness, smaller numbers represent

brighter objects.

If you watch the sky carefully through the next two weeks,

you'll be able to take note of the changing positions of these two planets and nearby

star, relative to each other.

Key nights to watch

On the evening of June 30, you'll see Mars just above and to the right of

Regulus, while Saturn sits above and to the left; the trio will resemble an

arrowhead that night with Saturn making the arrow's tip.

On the evening of July 1, Mars will appear perched

almost directly above Regulus. The color contrast will be quite striking,

especially in binoculars: Mars appears yellow-orange, while Regulus is bluish.

On July 5 looking low in the western sky about an hour after

sundown, you'll see a waxing crescent moon, with Regulus, Mars and Saturn all

oriented in a straight line in that order, from lower right to upper left. Mars

will be situated almost exactly in between Regulus and Saturn. On the following

night, the moon will have shifted eastward, forming a broad triangle with

Regulus and Saturn, while Mars will have moved noticeably closer to Saturn.

Saturn-Mars interactions

Saturn, at a mean distance of 886.2 million miles (1.4

billion km.) from the sun, takes 29.46 years to move once around the

sun. Mars, at a mean distance of 141.6 million miles (227.9 million

km.) from the sun,

requires only 1.88 Earth-years to complete one journey around the sun.

As a

result, Mars' normal eastward motion among the stars is considerably

faster

than that of Saturn. So from our vantage point here on the Earth, Mars

will

periodically seem to overtake Saturn in the sky.

During the evenings of July 9 through 11, watch how the

faster-moving Mars closely interacts with the much slower Saturn. Despite the

difference in brightness, they still should make for a rather eye-catching pair

in the western twilight glow about an hour after sundown. On the 9th, Mars is

situated about one degree below Saturn. On the 10th, they are closest together,

separated by 0.7 degree; Mars now appears just below and to the left of Saturn.

On the 11th, Mars has moved noticeably farther away to Saturn's left.

Interestingly, when we combine the motions of Earth, Mars and Saturn, we find that the

interval between conjunctions of Mars and Saturn average about every 2 years

and 20 days. The last time Mars and Saturn got together was June 17, 2006. Their

next meeting is set for July 30, 2010.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's

Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times

and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for

News 12 Westchester, New York.