[Photo from April via EVG reader Spike]
Local astronomy buff Felton Davis passed along the following …
If it stays clear I will set up on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and East First Street tonight at 8:30, and try to focus in on the rings of Saturn.
Saturn
1) Saturn is the sixth planet out from the Sun, after Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter.
2) Saturn is the second largest planet, after Jupiter.
3) Saturn is 75,000 miles in diameter, with its rings bringing the total diameter to at least 150,000 miles.
4) Saturn is approximately 890 million miles from the Sun, about nine times as far from the Sun as Earth.
5) Saturn emits no light of its own. We're able to see it because sunlight bounces off it and is reflected back to Earth, taking about 45 minutes to reach us at the speed of light.
6) Saturn takes almost 30 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun, and therefore will be looping back and forth in the constellations Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius and Capricornus during the next 10 years. It will not be high in the night sky like Jupiter until the late 2020s.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Searching for Comet ISON with East Village resident Felton Davis
Comet spotting with East Village resident Felton Davis
To everyone-- if you have never seen Saturn through a powerful telescope you should run, not walk, for this chance. It is one of the truly amazing spectacles.
ReplyDeleteOnce, in Colorado, I was with a group who paid $1 each to look and then told me they were ripped off because they didn't believe it was real. It was real.
I completely agree! It looks so surreal that it looks fake.
ReplyDeleteHa! That's funny (but kinda understandable).
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It is an amazing thing to see; and it does look almost sort of fake, if you're looking through a decent scope.
People look up in the sky, then through the scope; then back at the sky then back through the scope. "No way, that's fake!"
Just stopped by. Truly a sight to see, especially from NYC. Quite a large crowd out there now.
ReplyDeleteFunny, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was on TCM the other night.
ReplyDelete"Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.
I've seen Mr. Felton (now I finally know his name) on a regular basis in front of Coffee Bean. I never stopped to take a look through his telescope though.
ReplyDeleteI went to the Saturn viewing thanks to this post. There was a line of all kinds of people waiting to get a glimpse of Saturn. And I got the opportunity to indeed view that distant planet while 2nd Avenue traffic was rushing by!
Thank you Mr. Felton for enriching the community!
I'm really surprised you can see anything through the light pollution. Good man.
ReplyDeleteThis was awesome. Glad I stopped by.
ReplyDeleteJune 6 NYC 5:10 am daylight. Nibiru?
ReplyDelete