Moon between Mars and Saturn on May 11
Saturn is the Roman God of agriculture (Cronus in Greek mythology). (Credit: NASA-GRC)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
As darkness falls tonight, the waxing moon can be found between two planets, Mars and Saturn.
Saturn lies to the east of the moon. Mars lies to the west. Saturn is brighter, and easy to notice now because it’s right next to a bright star, Regulus in the constellation Leo. So you’ll see two points of light close together near the moon tonight. That’ll be Saturn and Regulus.
Once you spot Regulus and Saturn near each other, look on the opposite side of the moon for a reddish light that’s about as bright as Regulus. That’ll be the planet Mars – now only modestly bright – but still easily visible. Earth is moving ahead of both Mars and Saturn in orbit around the sun now. So both of these planets will dim in the months ahead.
If you have a small telescope, you know Mars’ moment of glory for 2008 has passed. It looked bigger through a telescope a few months ago, when Earth and Mars were closer together.
But Saturn is still a captivating telescopic presence. Saturn’s rings are more open now than they’ll be for some years to come. What’s more, the largest slice of Saturn’s shadow is falling across Saturn’s rings this month, giving this world a special 3-dimensional quality as seen by telescope users.
All night long, the moon will be moving away from Mars and toward Saturn. As seen from the Americas, the waxing gibbous moon will form a tight triangle with Saturn and Regulus on Monday night.
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