"Observing Saturn and Jupiter at Opposition"
by Chris Morisette
Over the next several weeks, two of the night sky’s “greatest hits” will move in the sky until they are best placed for observation. On August 27th, Saturn will reach opposition, followed by Jupiter at opposition on November 2nd.
At opposition, the Earth will be directly between the Sun and the planet. It is an alignment which, from our perspective, has the planet exactly opposite from the Sun on the sky. When the sun is setting, the planet is rising, with the opposite occurring at sunrise.
Novice Chairperson Chris Morisette will describe this alignment of the planets and explain how to take advantage of this favorable alignment to observe them. He will also give us some tips for making your observations, and what you should expect to see as these planetary “rock” stars (gas giants – no rocks really) present themselves for our close inspection.
Our speaker:
Chris Morisette is HAS Novice Chairperson and an active member of the Houston Astronomical Society, North Houston Astronomy Club, and the Fort Bend Astronomy Clubs. He is also a member of the University of Texas Astronomy Department Board of Visitors. On clear Saturday nights you may find him volunteering at the George Observatory engaging with visitor and sharing his love of the night with them, while totally having fun operating the telescopes there, or you may find him at the HAS dark site gaining experience with astrophotography.
This meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. In order to attend, you must register for the meeting. You can do so using the link below. You will receive a email with the details of the meeting and a link that will allow you to join in.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqcu2hqzsjGNJNVnFX_0ECpZhfzHUdiz9C
You only need to register once!
Join us Thursday, August 3rd, 2023 at 7:00 pm CDST. See you then!
