by The iconic rings of Saturn seem to “disappear” for a few days from this weekend – at least from our viewpoint on earth.
The rings will not really disappear, but for a short time the angle between the earth and Saturn will create something of a cosmic illusion, making the rings of the planet seem invisible from our point of view.
The reason that this happens has to do with the specific offices of both planets. The axis of Saturn is 26.73 degrees of vertically tilted while it rotates the sun, which is comparable to the tilt of 23.5 degrees of the earth, according to NASA. So while each planet turns on its axis and the sun rotates, the appearance of Saturn, including the rings, can differ when they are viewed by telescopes or powerful observatoria on earth.
Occasionally the tilt corner of Saturn turns to the earth exactly the rings on the edge, making it look like the thin tires have disappeared.
“They are literally disappearing,” said Sean Walker, an associated editor at Sky & Telescope, a monthly magazine about science and amateur astronomy. “Normally you see the rings around Saturn, but if you have a edge view, it looks like a light -thin light line that just passes.”
The rings of Saturn photographed by NASA’s Cassini -Space Varitage on 15 May 2017.
In recent months, the huge rings of Saturn seemed to be thin when they are viewed by telescopes based on the floor. By Sunday the rings will reach that precise edge-on corner.
The illusion is temporary and only takes about a day or two before the rings slowly come back in sight.
And the event is relatively rare: ringing surface crossing – as the phenomenon is known – usually occurs twice during the 29.4 years that Saturn is needed to make one job around the sun. This means that they can be seen from the earth about once every 13 to 15 years.
Unfortunately, however, Saturn will be too close to the sun this weekend for Skywatchers to see what it looks like without his rings. But another chance will come later this year, on November 23, when the rings will be almost rand-on (although not exactly).
Walker said he witnessed a ring plane transition in 1995, using a telescope in the back garden.
“It was fantastic,” he said. “It looked like another planet. I spent a large part of the night drinking in that view.”
It was around that time, he said, when he just started to be interested in astronomy.
The rings of Saturn photographed by Nasa’s Cassini -Space Varitage on November 28, 2016.
In addition to a quirky product of geometry, a ring -surface transition also happens because of the structure of the rings of Saturn. The iconic accessories consist of billions of swirling pieces of rock and ice, but are relatively flat, therefore the rings may seem to disappear in a thin line when the edge on earth is tilted.
The Edge-on view also makes it easier to see more of Saturn’s moons, Walker said.
“When we have these ring aircraft transitions, the light that normally reflects from the rings of Saturn no longer reflects to earth,” he said. “That means that you can detect much more of the smaller moons.”
With an ordinary backyard telescope, Walker said, people can often spot four to six moons around Saturn. During a ring surface that is crossed in the dark sky, people may almost detect a dozen.
“The real vague becomes clear because they stand in line in almost a perfect line,” he said.
After crossing this weekend, the next full place will take place in 2038. According to Walker, that event must be visible from the earth.
“I would like to see it again,” he said. “It’s just going to wait a while to wait.”
This article was originally published on nbcnews.com
