2023-11-07 18:35:35
Amateur astronomers will have to hurry to observe Saturn from every angle before the rings temporarily disappear in 18 months due to the planet’s tilt as it rotates around the Sun.
This is what the scientific media IFL Science explained by reporting that Saturn’s next equinox will cause this phenomenon of disappearance of its rings. The equinox will occur on May 6, 2025, according to USA Today.
If the planet’s rings are very large and extend over a distance ranging from 70,000 to 140,000 kilometers, the equivalent of 30 times the surface of the Earth, they are also extremely thin.
In most cases, their thickness is less than 100 meters, which would be almost thinner than a sheet of paper in proportion to the scale of the Earth.
The inclination of Saturn will therefore give the illusion that the rings will have disappeared when observing them from our planet, since the lighting of the rings by the Sun will be different.
“For nearly half of Saturn’s orbit, the sun shines on the south side of the rings. For the other half, it shines on the north side,” a NASA transcript explained.
Remember that it takes the gas giant approximately 30 Earth years to complete a complete rotation around the Sun. It is halfway through that the equinox occurs.
We must therefore not lose hope of being able to observe these famous rings since they should be truly highlighted in 2032, when the maximum inclination of Saturn will be reached.
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