WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Astro Minute: Saturn, The Bejeweled Giant

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

Saturn may be a billion miles away - but you can still see it without binoculars. Look up to learn more!

Welcome to the Astro Minute, where we're exploring the universe 60 seconds at a time. I'm Lauren Smith, and today we're admiring a bejeweled giant. Saturn, the second largest planet in our solar system, is known for its spectacular rings, a vast system of orbiting bands of dust to mountain-sized, icy, rocky particles, and Saturn's numerous moons, over 140 and counting, are complex worlds with a wild variety of features, like methane lakes, underground seas, and giant plume. Sunlight takes 80 minutes to reach distant Saturn. But even from Earth's viewpoint, a billion miles away, this icy gas giant is easy to see with the unaided eye.

Look online to make sure it's up. Then find this yellowy orange planet along the ecliptic, the sun's path across the sky. Strong binoculars can reveal the oblong appearance of the ringed planet and often its largest moon, Titan. That's your Astro Minute.