- Saturn at its closest and brightest now for Washington, Oregon, the coast Oregon Coast Beach Connection
- Skygazers alert! Saturn to appear bigger, brighter as planet will be in direct opposition to Sun on August 27 The Tribune India
- Skywatchers alert! Saturn will make its brightest and biggest appearance this weekend. Here`s how to watch it WION
- Saturn and the moon are set to light up the skies starting tonight for stargazers in South-East Asia The Star Online
- Ring Side Seats: Three Ways To Witness Saturn’s 2023 Opposition SciTechDaily
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Saturn
See the conjunction of Venus and Saturn in free webcast on Jan. 22
During the evening of Sunday (Jan. 22) the solar system planets Saturn and Venus will meet up in the night sky making a close approach. Luckily, skywatchers who don’t want to brave the bitter cold of January can watch the encounter from the comfort of their homes.
The Virtual Telescope Project will stream the close-approach and the arrangement, known as a “conjunction,” between Venus, the second planet from the sun, and Saturn, the solar system’s second-largest planet. The livestream will begin while the two planets will be separated by less than half a degree, which is less than the angular size of the full moon, and is equivalent to half the width of a finger at arm’s length.
The Virtual Telescope Project’s livestream of the conjunction of Venus and Saturn will begin at 1:30 pm EST (1830 GMT) on Sunday (Jan. 22) and will be available to watch online for free courtesy of the project’s website (opens in new tab) or YouTube channel (opens in new tab).
Related: What time is the conjunction of Venus and Saturn on Sunday (Jan. 22)?
Both Saturn and Venus are visible to the naked eye in the night sky, but there is a massive difference between the brightness of the two. Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon and during the conjunction will be at magnitude -3.9. Saturn, famous for the rings which encircle it, will be at magnitude 0.7 during the conjunction. (Negative numbers indicate bright objects in the sky.)
That means Saturn will be 100 times fainter than Venus during the conjunction according to Virtual Telescope Project head and astrophysicist Gianluca Masi. Masi will be observing the conjunction between Venus and Saturn from Ceccano, Italy.
During the conjunction, the two planets will be close enough in the night sky to be resolved with a telescope. Skywatchers will also be able to observe the conjunction with binoculars or with the naked eye, though Saturn may be difficult to spot without assistance from an instrument.
Conditions for viewing the spectacle should be favorable, weather permitting, as the the moon will only be a 2% illuminated crescent the day following January’s new moon on Saturday (Jan. 21).
According to In the Sky (opens in new tab), from New York City the conjunction between Venus and Saturn will become visible in the constellation of Capricorn at around 5:18 p.m. EST (2218 GMT) at around 14 degrees over the horizon to the southwest. The planets will set around two hours after the sun at 6:48 p.m. EST (2348 GMT).
The conjunction of these planets marks the beginning of the evening apparition of Venus. According to Space.com’s Joe Rao, the evening apparition of Venus will see it literally soar high into the heavens by late spring during which time the already bright planet will more than double its brightness.
As Venus rises above the horizon, during this period Saturn will lower in the night sky each subsequent night, disappearing into the twilight as it does so. This is leading to Saturn’s solar conjunction on Feb. 16th, 2023.
If you’re hoping to observe the conjunction between Saturn and Venus for yourself, our guides for the best telescopes and best binoculars are a great place to start. If you’re looking to take some photos of the conjunction, see our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s Note: If you snap the conjunction between Saturn and Venus, and would like to share it with Space.com’s readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com. This story was updated on Jan. 22 to include the new start time for this livestream and to include its YouTube video feed.
Follow us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), or on Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).
The astronomical events you don’t want to miss in 2023
From meteor showers to solar eclipses, to crescent moons peaking out beside Saturn and Venus, there is a lot going on in the sky you do not want to miss in 2023.
The year will kick off with the annual Quadrantids meteor shower and will end with the impressive Geminid meteor shower in December.
In between there will be partial solar eclipses, chances to spot Saturn and Venus, and supermoons to watch out for.
MailOnline rounds up the biggest and brightest of the astronomical events waiting for us in the new year.
The Geminid meteor shower usually peaks around mid-December and is considered to be one of the most prolific and reliable annual shower
January 3 and 4 – Quadrantids meteor shower
It is one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year and you do not need specialist equipment to see it.
While the meteor shower technically began today, it will reach its peak on the night of January 3 and morning of January 4.
It is an above average shower, which usually sees 40 meteors past per hour.
At an extreme, however, up to 200 shooting stars can be seen per hour, but that relies on perfect conditions in the ideal spot on Earth.
Quadrantid meteor shower over in the Great Khingan Mountains in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province back in January 2019
The pieces of debris whip around the Earth’s atmosphere at around 43mph per second (70km per second).
Unfortunately, this year the full moon will mean fainter meteors will not be so easily visible so it is best to get as far away from city lights as possible and head out to more rural secluded spots.
Astrologists believe that the meteors from the minor planet 2003 EH1.
January 23 – Thin crescent moon next to Saturn and Venus
Within an hour or so after sunset on this day, you should be able to see a crescent moon next to Saturn and Venus in the south-western sky.
Just below the thin moon will be a bright Venus, and directly below that a dimmer Saturn will be spotted.
You would need to head out quickly to make sure you do not miss this event before they head out of sight.
The crescent moon in conjunction with the illuminated planet Venus (brightest on the right) ahead of dawn in Whitley Bay, in England, 2020
March 1 – Spot the brightest planets align
On March 1, Venus and Jupiter will be visible in the southwestern sky.
The two planets will become visible around 6.01pm (GMT) as dusk begins to fade to darkness.
You will have to be quite quick to be able to see them though, because at around 20:27 GMT the two planets will fade as they go over the horizon.
They will be bright enough to view with the naked eye or a pair of binoculars.
It is best not to use a telescope, however, as you may not be able to fit both planets into the view.
Venus, Mars and Jupiter align over the Isle of Portland in the English Channel
April 11 – Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation
This is the best time to view Mercury because it will reach its highest point in the sky after sunset, offering the best view of the planet for the whole year.
It reaches what is known as its ‘Greatest Eastern Elongation’, where it has the maximum angular separation from the sun, as observed from Earth.
This means Mercury will be more visible than usual because it won’t be as obscured by the brightness of the Sun.
It is one of two ‘inferior planets’. Inferior planets are those that orbit closer to the Sun than the Earth (the other being Venus).
The elongation of a superior planet – one with an orbit beyond the Earth’s orbit (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc) – can vary from 0 degrees to 180 degrees.
Inferior planets, however, range between 0 degrees and a greatest elongation of 28 degrees for Mercury and 48 degrees for Venus.
As it is the smallest planet in our Solar System, and closest to the sun, it is best to have a pair of binoculars handy to try spot the tiny dot.
In April 2023, Mercury reaches what is known as its ‘Greatest Eastern Elongation’, where it has the biggest angular separation from the Sun, as observed from Earth. This means the planet will be more visible than usual because it won’t be as obscured by the brightness of the Sun
April 22, 23 – Lyrids Meteor Shower
The Lyrids meteor shower is one of the oldest known meteor showers in the UK, first being observed more than 2,500 year ago when the first sighting was recording in 687 BC by the Chinese.
It is a very bright meteor shower which travels at a fast pace.
Around 10 to 15 meteors are generally seen during this type of shower, however, sometimes up to 100 meteors can be seen.
As they pass through the sky, the meteors leave a trail of dust behind them which can be observable for a few seconds.
Multiple exposures were cobmbined to produce this image of the Lyrids meteor shower over Niederhollabrunn, Austria in April 2020. The meteors streak through the sky at speeds of about 110,000 mph
The best place to see Lyrids Meteor Shower is in the Northern Hemisphere after moonset but before dawn, in areas away from light pollution.
These meteor’s have been attributed to comet C1861 G1, known as Comet Thatcher.
In the UK the shower will begin on April 14 and will come to a maximum between April 22 and April 23.
July 3 – Supermoon
The July Supermoon will be the first of four occurring in 2023. There will be two other Supermoons in August and one in September.
On the night of the Supermoon, the moon appears much larger and brighter than it would on any other night.
Supermoons occur because the moon orbits the Earth on an elliptical path, rather than a circular one.
Therefore, there is a point in its 29.5-day orbit where it is closest to the Earth and, at certain times of the year, it passes this point during a full moon.
This makes it appear about 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than when a full moon appears at the apogee – the point furthest away from out planet.
A supermoon is about 7 per cent larger and 15 per cent brighter than a standard full moon.
This is because the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. It is not an unusual phenomena but gives the appearance of the moon being larger.
The July Supermoon will be the first of four occurring in 2023. There will be two other Supermoon’s in August and one in September. Pictured: The Supermoon behind the shard in August 2022
August 12, 13 – Perseids Meteor Shower
This meteor shower is best seen in the Northern Hemisphere, with the best viewing spot in the UK set to be near Derby in Derbyshire.
Up to 100 meteors can be seen per hour during the shower, with the optimum time for viewing in the UK being between midnight and 05:00 GMT.
The meteor is caused by the Earth bumping into debris left behind from the Swift-Tuttle comet.
The shower is popular among stargazers because of its high hourly rate and bright meteors.
August 27 – Saturn at Opposition
When Saturn takes Opposition it means it will lie opposite to the sun in the sky, making it extremely visible for most of the night.
At the same time, Saturn will be making its closest approach to Earth, which makes it one of the brightest and largest objects in the sky.
From London this will be visible between 21.24 GMT on August 27 and 04.45am GMT on August 28. It will reach its highest point at 01.04 GMT.
Unless you have a telescope, however, you will not be able to distinguish the rings around Saturn. It will instead look like a large, bright star.
October 14 – Annular Solar Eclipse
The annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is too far away from Earth to completely cover the sun.
This leaves a ring of light around the dark moon and the sun’s corona cannot be seen either.
Unfortunately this year it will not be visible in Europe but will be able to be seen in southern Canada, south-western United States and Central American countries such as Columbia and Brazil.
In the UK, the last full Solar Eclipse was seen in August 1999. It will not be seen in the UK until September 2090, according to the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
In the UK, the last full Solar Eclipse was seen in August 1999. It will not be seen in the UK until September 2090, according to the Royal Greenwich Observatory
October 28 – Partial Lunar Eclipse
A partial lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes through the Earth’s partial shadow, known as the penumbra.
It happens when the Earth moves between the Sun and the moon but it does not directly align.
The shadow then causes a darkening of part of moons surface, while the rest remains lit up by the sun.
This year the moon will begin to enter the Earth’s penumbra at 07.03 GMT with the partial eclipse beginning at 20.36 GMT. It will then reach its greatest eclipse at 21.15 GMT.
The sun breaking through the clouds during a partial solar eclipse over Stoodley Pike in West Yorkshire, in 2022
December 13, 14 – Geminid meteor shower
NASA calls this the ‘best meteor shower of the year’ and ‘the cosmos’ annual gift to sky watchers’.
The Geminid meteor shower usually peaks around mid-December and is considered to be one of the most prolific and reliable annual shower.
The meteors are mainly white but unusually can also be yellow, green, red or blue.
While most meteor showers are caused by comets, the Geminid meteor shower is unique as the shower is produced as the Earth passes through a trail of debris created by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon.
Head to a dark area, away from light pollution, and allow at least 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the night sky.
The Geminid meteor shower was first reported in 1862, but it was not until 1983 that scientists determined 3200 Phaethon, was the source.
It is called the Geminids because when Earth passes through the debris it lights up the Castor star in the Gemini constellation.
Unfortunately in 2022, the Moon was extremely bright which led to dimmer meteors.
The Geminid meteor shower was first reported in 1862, but it was not until 1983 that scientists determined 3200 Phaethon, was the source. Pictured: The Geminid meteor shower over the Isle of Wight
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Photos from across the UK show the Lyrid Meteor Shower as it peaked with up to 18 shooting stars per hour.
A meteor streaked across Scotland’s skies ‘so low you could HEAR it’ leaving locals transfixed.
Stunning images show the partial solar eclipse over the UK, Italy and Turkey – with the sun appearing to have a ‘bite’ taken out of it.
The astronomical events you don’t want to miss in 2023
From meteor showers to solar eclipses, to crescent moons peaking out beside Saturn and Venus, there is a lot going on in the sky you do not want to miss in 2023.
The year will kick off with the annual Quadrantids meteor shower and will end with the impressive Geminid meteor shower in December.
In between there will be partial solar eclipses, chances to spot Saturn and Venus, and supermoons to watch out for.
MailOnline rounds up the biggest and brightest of the astronomical events waiting for us in the new year.
The Geminid meteor shower usually peaks around mid-December and is considered to be one of the most prolific and reliable annual shower
January 3 and 4 – Quadrantids meteor shower
It is one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year and you do not need specialist equipment to see it.
While the meteor shower technically began today, it will reach its peak on the night of January 3 and morning of January 4.
It is an above average shower, which usually sees 40 meteors past per hour.
At an extreme, however, up to 200 shooting stars can be seen per hour, but that relies on perfect conditions in the ideal spot on Earth.
Quadrantid meteor shower over in the Great Khingan Mountains in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province back in January 2019
The pieces of debris whip around the Earth’s atmosphere at around 43mph per second (70km per second).
Unfortunately, this year the full moon will mean fainter meteors will not be so easily visible so it is best to get as far away from city lights as possible and head out to more rural secluded spots.
Astrologists believe that the meteors from the minor planet 2003 EH1.
January 23 – Thin crescent moon next to Saturn and Venus
Within an hour or so after sunset on this day, you should be able to see a crescent moon next to Saturn and Venus in the south-western sky.
Just below the thin moon will be a bright Venus, and directly below that a dimmer Saturn will be spotted.
You would need to head out quickly to make sure you do not miss this event before they head out of sight.
The crescent moon in conjunction with the illuminated planet Venus (brightest on the right) ahead of dawn in Whitley Bay, in England, 2020
March 1 – Spot the brightest planets align
On March 1, Venus and Jupiter will be visible in the southwestern sky.
The two planets will become visible around 6.01pm (GMT) as dusk begins to fade to darkness.
You will have to be quite quick to be able to see them though, because at around 20:27 GMT the two planets will fade as they go over the horizon.
They will be bright enough to view with the naked eye or a pair of binoculars.
It is best not to use a telescope, however, as you may not be able to fit both planets into the view.
Venus, Mars and Jupiter align over the Isle of Portland in the English Channel
April 11 – Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation
This is the best time to view Mercury because it will reach its highest point in the sky after sunset, offering the best view of the planet for the whole year.
It reaches what is known as its ‘Greatest Eastern Elongation’, where it has the maximum angular separation from the sun, as observed from Earth.
This means Mercury will be more visible than usual because it won’t be as obscured by the brightness of the Sun.
It is one of two ‘inferior planets’. Inferior planets are those that orbit closer to the Sun than the Earth (the other being Venus).
The elongation of a superior planet – one with an orbit beyond the Earth’s orbit (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc) – can vary from 0 degrees to 180 degrees.
Inferior planets, however, range between 0 degrees and a greatest elongation of 28 degrees for Mercury and 48 degrees for Venus.
As it is the smallest planet in our Solar System, and closest to the sun, it is best to have a pair of binoculars handy to try spot the tiny dot.
In April 2023, Mercury reaches what is known as its ‘Greatest Eastern Elongation’, where it has the biggest angular separation from the Sun, as observed from Earth. This means the planet will be more visible than usual because it won’t be as obscured by the brightness of the Sun
April 22, 23 – Lyrids Meteor Shower
The Lyrids meteor shower is one of the oldest known meteor showers in the UK, first being observed more than 2,500 year ago when the first sighting was recording in 687 BC by the Chinese.
It is a very bright meteor shower which travels at a fast pace.
Around 10 to 15 meteors are generally seen during this type of shower, however, sometimes up to 100 meteors can be seen.
As they pass through the sky, the meteors leave a trail of dust behind them which can be observable for a few seconds.
Multiple exposures were cobmbined to produce this image of the Lyrids meteor shower over Niederhollabrunn, Austria in April 2020. The meteors streak through the sky at speeds of about 110,000 mph
The best place to see Lyrids Meteor Shower is in the Northern Hemisphere after moonset but before dawn, in areas away from light pollution.
These meteor’s have been attributed to comet C1861 G1, known as Comet Thatcher.
In the UK the shower will begin on April 14 and will come to a maximum between April 22 and April 23.
July 3 – Supermoon
The July Supermoon will be the first of four occurring in 2023. There will be two other Supermoons in August and one in September.
On the night of the Supermoon, the moon appears much larger and brighter than it would on any other night.
Supermoons occur because the moon orbits the Earth on an elliptical path, rather than a circular one.
Therefore, there is a point in its 29.5-day orbit where it is closest to the Earth and, at certain times of the year, it passes this point during a full moon.
This makes it appear about 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than when a full moon appears at the apogee – the point furthest away from out planet.
A supermoon is about 7 per cent larger and 15 per cent brighter than a standard full moon.
This is because the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. It is not an unusual phenomena but gives the appearance of the moon being larger.
The July Supermoon will be the first of four occurring in 2023. There will be two other Supermoon’s in August and one in September. Pictured: The Supermoon behind the shard in August 2022
August 12, 13 – Perseids Meteor Shower
This meteor shower is best seen in the Northern Hemisphere, with the best viewing spot in the UK set to be near Derby in Derbyshire.
Up to 100 meteors can be seen per hour during the shower, with the optimum time for viewing in the UK being between midnight and 05:00 GMT.
The meteor is caused by the Earth bumping into debris left behind from the Swift-Tuttle comet.
The shower is popular among stargazers because of its high hourly rate and bright meteors.
August 27 – Saturn at Opposition
When Saturn takes Opposition it means it will lie opposite to the sun in the sky, making it extremely visible for most of the night.
At the same time, Saturn will be making its closest approach to Earth, which makes it one of the brightest and largest objects in the sky.
From London this will be visible between 21.24 GMT on August 27 and 04.45am GMT on August 28. It will reach its highest point at 01.04 GMT.
Unless you have a telescope, however, you will not be able to distinguish the rings around Saturn. It will instead look like a large, bright star.
October 14 – Annular Solar Eclipse
The annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is too far away from Earth to completely cover the sun.
This leaves a ring of light around the dark moon and the sun’s corona cannot be seen either.
Unfortunately this year it will not be visible in Europe but will be able to be seen in southern Canada, south-western United States and Central American countries such as Columbia and Brazil.
In the UK, the last full Solar Eclipse was seen in August 1999. It will not be seen in the UK until September 2090, according to the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
In the UK, the last full Solar Eclipse was seen in August 1999. It will not be seen in the UK until September 2090, according to the Royal Greenwich Observatory
October 28 – Partial Lunar Eclipse
A partial lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes through the Earth’s partial shadow, known as the penumbra.
It happens when the Earth moves between the Sun and the moon but it does not directly align.
The shadow then causes a darkening of part of moons surface, while the rest remains lit up by the sun.
This year the moon will begin to enter the Earth’s penumbra at 07.03 GMT with the partial eclipse beginning at 20.36 GMT. It will then reach its greatest eclipse at 21.15 GMT.
The sun breaking through the clouds during a partial solar eclipse over Stoodley Pike in West Yorkshire, in 2022
December 13, 14 – Geminid meteor shower
NASA calls this the ‘best meteor shower of the year’ and ‘the cosmos’ annual gift to sky watchers’.
The Geminid meteor shower usually peaks around mid-December and is considered to be one of the most prolific and reliable annual shower.
The meteors are mainly white but unusually can also be yellow, green, red or blue.
While most meteor showers are caused by comets, the Geminid meteor shower is unique as the shower is produced as the Earth passes through a trail of debris created by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon.
Head to a dark area, away from light pollution, and allow at least 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the night sky.
The Geminid meteor shower was first reported in 1862, but it was not until 1983 that scientists determined 3200 Phaethon, was the source.
It is called the Geminids because when Earth passes through the debris it lights up the Castor star in the Gemini constellation.
Unfortunately in 2022, the Moon was extremely bright which led to dimmer meteors.
The Geminid meteor shower was first reported in 1862, but it was not until 1983 that scientists determined 3200 Phaethon, was the source. Pictured: The Geminid meteor shower over the Isle of Wight
If you enjoyed this article, you might like…
Photos from across the UK show the Lyrid Meteor Shower as it peaked with up to 18 shooting stars per hour.
A meteor streaked across Scotland’s skies ‘so low you could HEAR it’ leaving locals transfixed.
Stunning images show the partial solar eclipse over the UK, Italy and Turkey – with the sun appearing to have a ‘bite’ taken out of it.
Webb telescope spies clouds beneath haze of Saturn moon Titan
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The James Webb Space Telescope has spied clouds on one of the solar system’s most intriguing moons.
In November, the space observatory turned its infrared gaze on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. It’s the only moon in our solar system that has a dense atmosphere — four times denser than Earth’s.
Titan’s atmosphere is made of nitrogen and methane, which gives it a fuzzy, orange appearance. This thick haze obscures visible light from reflecting off the moon’s surface, making it difficult to discern features.
The Webb telescope observes the universe in infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye — on November 5, the telescope spotted a bright cloud in Titan’s northern hemisphere and, soon after, detected a second cloud in the atmosphere.
The larger cloud was located over Titan’s northern polar region near Kraken Mare, the largest known liquid sea of methane on the moon’s surface.
Titan has Earth-like liquid bodies on its surface, but its rivers, lakes and seas are made of liquid ethane and methane, which form clouds and cause rain from the sky. Researchers also believe Titan has an internal liquid water ocean.
“Detecting clouds is exciting because it validates long-held predictions from computer models about Titan’s climate, that clouds would form readily in the mid-northern hemisphere during its late summertime when the surface is warmed by the Sun,” cowrote Conor Nixon, a planetary scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on NASA’s Webb blog.
Nixon is also the principal investigator on the Webb observation program for Titan.
The team of astronomers studying the Webb observations reached out to colleagues at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to see if follow-up observations could reveal if the clouds were moving or changing shape.
“We were concerned that the clouds would be gone when we looked at Titan two days later with Keck, but to our delight there were clouds at the same positions, looking like they had changed in shape,” said Imke de Pater, emeritus professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead of the Keck Titan Observing Team, in a statement.
Atmospheric modeling experts helped the team determine that the two telescopes had captured observations of seasonal weather patterns on Titan.
Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument was also able to collect data on Titan’s lower atmosphere, which can’t be seen by ground-based observatories such as Keck due to interference from Earth’s atmosphere, in different wavelengths of infrared light.
The data, which is still being analyzed, was able to see deeper into Titan’s atmosphere and surface than the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn and its moons for 13 years. Webb’s observations could also reveal the cause of a bright feature over Titan’s south pole.
The cloud observations were a long time coming.
“We had waited for years to use Webb’s infrared vision to study Titan’s atmosphere, including its fascinating weather patterns and gaseous composition, and also see through the haze to study albedo features on the surface,” Nixon said, referring to the bright and dark patches.
“Titan’s atmosphere is incredibly interesting, not only due to its methane clouds and storms, but also because of what it can tell us about Titan’s past and future — including whether it always had an atmosphere. We were absolutely delighted with the initial results.”
The team is planning more observations of Titan in June that may provide additional information about the gases in its atmosphere.
The 3 Zodiac Signs Who Refuse To Change For Love During The Moon Square Saturn On November 22, 2022
Every zodiac sign has at one point in time refuses to change for love, and when the Moon squares Saturn on November 22, 2022, these three are the worst.
There comes a time in every relationship when we evaluate the rules and regulations that we’ve established during the time we’ve been with our mate.
As life goes on, we tend to change, and in relationships, we sometimes want our partners to change as well. Sometimes we ask for too much; perhaps we wish for our partners to become entirely different people and so we pressure them into doing things they wouldn’t do ordinarily.
And, sometimes we are the ones who feel the pressure. It happens all the time, especially between couples who’ve been together a long time.
If we can’t accept our partners as is, we try to change them. Do we, ourselves, enjoy being changed, or rather, forced to change into someone we are not?
RELATED: The 3 Zodiac Signs Who Can’t Commit During The Sun In Sagittarius Sun Starting November 22, 2022
No, we do not. And during the Moon Square Saturn, we will see this happen, as we begin to notice that our partners seem less than pleased with the person we are…and have always been.
Certain zodiac signs will feel this more than other signs, in fact.
During the Moon Square Saturn, we will use that Saturn energy and we will say no to our mates. Yes, they are trying to change us, and no, we aren’t about to do that…for anyone.
It’s not that we’re stuck or cramped or unable to change, it’s that we know what’s best for us and even a romantic partner doesn’t have the right to change us to suit their personality.
And so, today is the day we let it be known: we’re not changing for love, for them, for work, for anything. We are happy ‘as is and if they are not happy with that, then that one’s on them. Your move, signs.
The three zodiac signs who refuse to change for love during the Moon square Saturn on November 22, 2022:
1. Taurus
(April 20 – May 20)
It’s taken you so long to just come to the place where you accept yourself ‘as is’ and now that you’re there, you know how cool it is. Being you, being Taurus…it’s the world’s greatest experience. You finally love your body, your mind, and the way you go about doing things in the world.
You’re always open to improvement, but you are not open to becoming someone’s ideal anything. You may notice that your partner is an idealist, and now that they know the ‘full you’ they want more…they want you to change. Change sounds great, but only on your own terms.
You are not about to become someone’s robotic side-squeeze; they have to either take you as you are, or walk on by. You’re not changing for love, not this time; the work you’ve done on yourself is excellent, Taurus. Don’t go backward for the sake of someone else’s power trip.
2. Leo
(July 23 – August 22)
After all, you’ve done to become the person you are today, the last thing you want to do is change your ways because, for some reason, you suddenly inconvenience them by being you. Well, that doesn’t sound fair, does it? And yet, you can expect this kind of request during the Moon Square Saturn, on November 22, 2022.
Not only will it feel like a betrayal, as this person made you feel as though you were perfect for them, just the way you are, but because you can’t understand why they would WANT you to change. Aren’t you good enough as is? Of course, you are, and you know it.
When your mate asks you to change, you will see this request as the beginning of the end. This was not part of the plan; you were supposed to stay together in love and acceptance, not as a work-in-progress that falls into place according to the wishes of one partner, and not the other.
3. Pisces
(February 19 – March 20)
Today’s event, the Moon Square Saturn, does not make you happy. This is because you feel so good about yourself, and for some reason, your partner doesn’t seem to see how great you are. How dare they!
You count on them to love you for who you are, so what is this sudden change of plans, on their part? It seems that the person you are with has been influenced by someone in their life and now they want you to change as if it were their idea and not the idea of the influencer.
Your mate is enamored by someone else’s idea. It’s not romantic but it could potentially cause damage. It’s as if your partner is under the spell of some cult leader or something along those lines, and now, they feel the need to change YOU, too. This is unthinkable to you. You feel like you’re losing your partner, and if the only way to get them back is to conform to the change they wish to see in you, then fuggedaboudit! Not happening.
Ruby Miranda interprets I Ching, Tarot, Runes, and Astrology. She gives private readings and has worked as an intuitive reader for over 20 years.
Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in the night sky throughout October
NASA is urging stargazers to enjoy ‘evenings with giants’ this month — as the massive planets Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in the night sky for the next few weeks.
Early in the evening, you’ll find them to the southeast, moving slowly westward with the stars over the course of the night.
‘They form a triangle with bright star Fomalhaut,’ the US space agency explained on its website.
‘When observing this trio, note how the planets shine with a steady light, while the star twinkles. This can be an easy way to know if what you’re looking at is a planet or a star.’
At the end of last month, astronomers revealed that Jupiter would appear at its biggest and brightest in decades, as it made its closest approach to Earth in 59 years.
It is still some 367 million miles away from us, but not since October 1963 have stargazers had such a great opportunity to spot it in the night sky.
Look up! NASA is urging stargazers to enjoy ‘evenings with giants’ this month — as the massive planets Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in the night sky for the next few weeks. ‘They form a triangle with bright star Fomalhaut,’ the US space agency explained on its website
Astronomers may also be able to spot the retrograde motion of Mars this month. The sky chart above shows the path of the Red Planet over several months in 2022 and 2023 as it enters, then exits, retrograde motion
The gas giant came closest to Earth in almost 60 years on September 25, and 24 hours later reached opposition, meaning the planet appeared opposite the sun to those on Earth.
The planet’s closest approach to Earth hardly ever coincides with opposition, which NASA said meant that this year’s views would be ‘extraordinary’.
The overlap of the two events, which will not take place again until 2139, means that Jupiter will appear brighter and larger in the sky for the next few weeks.
When it comes to other celestial sights this month, Mars has been steadily working its way toward the east all year like it usually does, relative to the background stars.
But at the end of October, the Red Planet halts this apparent motion, and then appears to reverse course.
Over the next three months, from November to late January, the planet moves toward the west each night, then near the end of January it reverses direction again and continues its eastward journey.
This is what is called the retrograde motion of Mars, NASA said.
‘It happens about every two years, and it really threw early observers for a loop,’ the US space agency wrote.
‘That Mars appears to change its direction is an illusion caused by the motions of our planet in its orbit passing by the Red Planet in its orbit.’
Earth and Mars are on roughly circular paths around the sun, like cars on a racetrack, but our planet Earth is on the inner, faster track.
About every 26 months, we overtake Mars, which is moving slower in its orbit. During that period when we’re passing Mars, and before we round the bend in our orbit to pull away from it, we see Mars in retrograde, appearing to change direction, even though it’s still moving forward in its orbit.
Amateur astronomers have been told to take note of how Mars’ position changes with respect to Betelgeuse, Aldebaran and the Pleiades over the weeks.
NASA added: ‘You’ll be witnessing what was once a source of intense curiosity for astronomers, but which we now know is just a sign of two planets passing in the night.’
At the end of last month, astronomers revealed that Jupiter would appear at its biggest and brightest in decades, as it made its closest approach to Earth in 59 years
Stargazing: Early in the evening, you’ll find Jupiter and Saturn (shown) to the southeast of the sky, moving slowly westward with the stars over the course of the night
The Orionid meteor shower is also active throughout October and November, and peaks on the night of October 20.
It is a moderate shower, usually producing 10-20 meteors per hour at its peak, under clear, dark skies.
The bad news is that this year the moon will be about 20 per cent full on the peak nights, so it will interfere a bit when it rises a couple of hours before dawn.
However, it shouldn’t completely spoil the view.
The shower’s name comes from the fact that you can trace the paths of its meteors back to an area on the sky near Orion.
These meteors are fragments of dust left behind by Comet Halley in a trail that extends along its orbit. They tend to be bright and fast moving, and they often leave persistent trails that can glow in the sky for a few seconds after they streak by.
No special equipment is needed to observe meteor showers.
‘Just make sure you’re warm enough, and viewing from a safe, dark spot away from bright lights. Then all you have to do is look up and enjoy the show,’ the US space agency said.
Lots of strange things about Saturn can be explained by a destroyed moon
Saturn is an unusual planet in some obvious ways, most notably its extensive ring system. But it’s also strange in some less obvious ways: The rings appear to be far, far younger than the planet, and they stay stably in the plane of Saturn’s orbit while the planet’s axis of rotation wobbles around dramatically.
A new modeling study released in yesterday’s edition of Science suggests that these oddities have the same explanation. It hypothesizes that Saturn had an additional moon that enabled gravitational interactions that explains the planet’s large wobble. In the process of those interactions, however, the moon spun out of orbit, got close to Saturn, and was destroyed, creating the ring material. While the models don’t tell us this is definitively what happened, they can provide some indications of what we need to look for to determine how probable these events were.
Explaining the oddities
The Solar System is more than 4 billion years old. If we’re to assume that it has always looked much like it currently does, that would seem to put a premium on stability. Yet, the Saturn system is very dynamic. The largest moon, Titan, is moving away from the planet; geysers on another, Enceladus, feed material into one ring; small moons are condensing out of the materials of other rings. So there are reasons to think that Saturn hasn’t always looked like it currently does.
One of the things that isn’t likely to have been stable is the rings. Scientists have estimated their age as about 100 million years, based on interactions with the nearby moons and the color changes that accumulate over time in a high-radiation environment. While there’s some disagreement regarding the 100 million-year figure, explaining their presence at this point in the Solar System’s history remains a challenge.
Not content with that challenge, the team behind the new work threw in a second: Saturn’s large rotational wobble, where its axis of rotation is over 25° from being perfectly vertical relative to the plane of Saturn’s orbit. That’s too large to have been produced during the planet’s formation.
In this case, we have some ideas regarding how this might come about later in the planet’s history. Saturn can enter what’s called an “orbital resonance” with Neptune. Normally, gravitational interactions among planets average out over millions of years. But in a resonance, orbital periods line up so that specific configurations of bodies appear repeatedly. In this case, some gravitational interactions can end up being reinforced rather than averaging out, causing effects that build over time. In the case of Saturn and Neptune, a resonance could potentially influence the orientation of Saturn’s poles.
While the math works out, we haven’t known enough about some of the details of the Saturn system to determine whether it actually has a resonance with Neptune. But thanks to decades of data from the Cassini spacecraft, we now have the data we need to narrow down uncertainties.
Long-lost moon explains the origin of Saturn’s rings
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With its striking rings and tilted axis, Saturn is the showiest planet in the solar system. Now, scientists say they have a new theory as to how the gas giant got its signature look.
The planet’s rings could be from an ancient, missing moon, according to space scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley.
Today, Saturn has 82 moons, according to NASA. The research team proposed that the ringed planet may once have had another one that orbited the planet for a few billion years.
But around 160 million years ago, this moon became unstable and swung too close to Saturn in what the researchers described as a “grazing encounter” that smashed the moon apart.
While the gas giant likely swallowed 99% of the moon, the remainder became suspended in orbit, breaking into small icy chunks that ultimately formed the planet’s rings, the scientists suggested.
Previous research had estimated that Saturn’s rings were 100 million years old – much younger than the planet itself – although their age is a hotly debated topic. This latest study provides a potential explanation for their later origin.
“A variety of explanations have been offered, but none is totally convincing. The cool thing is that the previously unexplained young age of the rings is naturally explained in our scenario,” said study author Jack Wisdom, a professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a news release.
The new research, published in the journal Science on Thursday, is based on computer modeling using measurements made in 2017 at the very end of NASA’s Cassini mission, which spent 13 years exploring Saturn and its moons.
The study also sheds light on two other puzzling features of Saturn.
Previously, astronomers suspected that the planet’s 26.7-degree tilt came from gravitational interactions with its neighbor Neptune, but according to the study, the lost moon theory may provide a better explanation. The two planets may once have been in sync, and the loss of a moon could have been enough to dislodge Saturn from Neptune’s pull and leave it with the present-day tilt.
“The tilt is too large to be a result of known formation processes in a protoplanetary disk or from later, large collisions,” Wisdom said.
The scientists believe the same event may have caused Saturn’s moon Titan – which is the second-largest moon in the solar system and bigger than the planet Mercury – to embark on its curious orbit. The moon is migrating rapidly outward from Saturn at some 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) per year, the study noted.
The researchers named the lost moon Chrysalis, because of the way they think it transformed the planet.
“Just like a butterfly’s chrysalis, this satellite was long dormant and suddenly became active, and the rings emerged,” Wisdom said.
He added that the research told “a pretty good story,” but would have to be tested and examined by other astronomers.
Saturn Ring Mystery Possibly Solved After Four Centuries of Uncertainty
Saturn isn’t the only ringed planet in our solar system, but its girdle of ice and dust is by far the most spectacular. And a new study gives a fresh explanation of how and when Saturn’s rings formed, offering a solution to a mystery that has stymied astronomers ever since Galileo held up his telescope and first observed the planet in 1610.
The rings formed 100 million to 200 million years ago when one of Saturn’s moons, thrown off course by another moon, veered too close to the planet and was ripped to pieces by its gravitational forces, the study suggests. Rubble from the hypothetical moon, which the researchers dubbed Chrysalis, continued to orbit Saturn and over time flattened into the disk of particles seen today, according to the findings, which were published Thursday in the journal Science.
The rings are just 30 feet thick in places but span a diameter of about 170,000 miles. Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings, but they are smaller, darker and fainter.
For many years, scientists believed Saturn’s rings formed more than 4 billion years ago, but recent observations called that idea into question.
Photo:
NASA, ESA, A. Simon, M.H. Wong, OPAL Team
The new research represents “a completely new scenario that may solve the age of the rings for good,” said Dr.
Maryame El Moutamid,
a Cornell University astronomer who wrote an editorial accompanying the study but wasn’t involved in it.
In addition to explaining how and when the rings might have formed, the missing-moon scenario offers an explanation for Saturn’s puzzling tilt. Like Earth but unlike Jupiter—the planet in our solar system it most resembles—Saturn rotates at a significant angle with respect to the plane in which it orbits the sun.
“It ties together two puzzles that had previously been treated as separate,” Dr.
Francis Nimmo,
a professor of planetary science at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a co-author of the study, said of the scenario. “It turns out that you can explain both in a single story.”
For many years, scientists believed Saturn’s rings formed more than 4 billion years ago, when the young planet’s strong gravitational field captured passing comets and asteroids and slowly flattened them into rings. But observations by three National Aeronautics and Space Administration missions—Voyager 1 and 2 in the 1980s and Cassini between 2004 and 2017—called that idea into question. The observations revealed that the rings’ mass and composition were much younger than previously believed.
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“If they’re not old, they must be a result of a breakup of a body, like a large comet or a moon later on,” Dr.
Jack Wisdom,
professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lead author of the new research, said of the rings. But figuring out just what sort of object—and exactly how it broke up to form the rings—proved to be a difficult puzzle.
The solution came when the research team’s analysis of Cassini data upended long-held ideas about the complex relationships between Saturn, its moons and the nearby planet Neptune. Scientists had thought that Saturn and Neptune were in resonance, meaning they were gravitationally interacting. But the analysis showed that had been true but no longer was, suggesting that a small moon must have disrupted the resonance when gravitational forces exerted by another moon, Titan, sent it spiraling toward Saturn.
Not everyone is convinced that the question of Saturn’s rings and its tilt has been put to rest.
Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, said the new scenario “has a lot of things going for it” but that it is hard to verify the complex series of celestial events it is based upon. Dr. Lissauer wasn’t involved in the research.
The science community needs to spend time reviewing the new research, said Matthew Tiscareno, a planetary-rings researcher at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who wasn’t involved in the study. But Dr. Tiscareno called the missing-moon scenario “an exciting new idea that likely gets us closer to solving several intertwined mysteries at Saturn.”
Write to Aylin Woodward at Aylin.Woodward@wsj.com
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