When you buy through our articles links, Future and its syndication partners can earn commissions.
Every 15 years on Earth, people can see Saturn Titan (a green box) shadow (red box) move through a roundabout. This photo was photographed by the Habble Space Telescope in 2009. | Credit: NASA, ESA and Habble Heritage (STSC/Aura); Recognition: MH Wong (Stsci/UC Berkeley) and C. Go (Philippines)
There will be some chances of seeing a giant “hole” shooting over the surface in the next few months SaturnWhen the shadow of the largest moon passes through the roundabout surface of the planet. A rare performance will no longer be visible until 2040. – And we’ll tell you how to see it from your yard.
Every 15 years, Saturn and the Earth become perfectly matched for the gas giant rings to face our planet. March This alignment was so perfect that Live Science’s Sisters’ Live Science site was completely disappeared that the planet’s rings were completely disappeared. Space.com previously reported; 2032 The opposite will happen and we will be able to see all the dusty discs in the perfect circle around the fifth planet from the sun.
The current orientation of Saturn also means that the largest moon on the planet, titanium, circles it in such a way that its large shadow repeatedly transport the surface of the planet, much like As the moon’s shadow races over the ground During the lunar eclipse. The same phenomenon happens to some other major Saturno moons, including Mim and RHEA. However, their corresponding shadows are smaller and lighter than Titan, making them difficult to see.
Titan orbits Saturn about every 16 days, which means that a total of 10 transits will be visible until the Earth is still aligned with ring gas giant. Three of these transit has already taken place, last June 16th. However, there are still seven cases where the performance could be seen from now until mid -autumn, taking into account your location and weather conditions at that time.
The remaining transit will take place on July 2, July 18, August 3, August 19, September 4, September 20. And October 6th. Sky & Telescope; Check the table below for an exact time.
Related: Saturn gets 128 new moons, giving more than the rest of the solar system together connected
Credit: Illustration: NASA, ESA and Z. Levay (STSCI); Image: NASA, ESA and Habble Heritage (STSCI/Aura); Recognition: MH Wong (Stsci/UC Berkeley) and C. Go (Philippines)
These transit will also feature Titan, although its position is changing with each look compared to the shadow, as Saturn continues to collect the sun. But it will be slightly smaller than the shadow he throws.
To see the spectacular transmists for yourself, you will need a A good telescope with at least 200 times an increase. From North America, most transit will begin and end before sunrise. To find out where Saturn will be in the night sky, you can use websites such as Theskylive.com;
However, we recommend that you not leave it for the last minute, as unfavorable weather conditions can completely eclipse your image. As you can see from the table below, the length of the transit will also decrease each time, which means that you will need to be more accurate later this year; October 6 The shadow will only be visible in an instant when Titan is exactly the mid -transit.
Date |
The beginning of transit (East) |
Central Transit (East) |
The end of the transit (East) |
Duration of transit (minutes) |
July 2 |
03:40 |
06:35 |
09:03 |
323 |
July 18 |
03:00 |
05:44 |
08:05 |
305 |
August 3 |
02:25 |
04:52 |
07:04 |
279 |
August 19 |
01:52 |
04:01 |
06:00 |
248 |
September 4th |
01:25 |
03:09 |
04:50 |
205 |
September 20th |
01:09 |
02:20 |
03:34 |
145 |
October 6 |
N/a. |
01: 32* |
N/a. |
1 |
But even if you spend a spectacular shadow in the next few months, you can still see Titan pass in front of Saturn every 16 days before 2026. January, when it will stop pulling the planet by 2040.
Related stories
—They liquid on titanium, Saturn’s largest moon. But something is missing and scientists are confused.
– Saturn’s Death Star Moon Mima can be underground ocean scientists who have never believed they could exist
– is a strange, missing dark place Saturn Moon Encladus
If you are lucky enough to see a stunning celestial performance, be sure to remember that Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system, behind Jupiter Behemot’s satellite grazed. More than 3200 miles (5,50 kilometers) it is also slightly larger than Planet Mercury and 50% wider than Earth Moon;
It is also the only one of Solar System MoonsExcept for the land visited by a human spacecraft. European Space Agency Huygens probe landed on Saturn’s satellite in 2005. – And he is still today.