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Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel
(TWAN)
Explanation:
Saturn is the most
distant planet
of the Solar System
easily
visible
to the unaided eye.
With this extraordinary, long-term astro-imaging project begun in 1993,
you can follow the ringed gas giant for one Saturn year
as it wanders
once around the
ecliptic plane,
finishing a single orbit around the Sun by 2022.
Constructed from individual images made over 29 Earth years,
the split panorama is centered along the ecliptic
and crossed by the plane of our Milky Way galaxy.
Saturn's position in 1993 is at the right side, upper panel
in the constellation
Capricornus and progresses toward the left.
It returns to the spot in Capricornus
at left in the lower panel in 2022.
The consistent imaging shows Saturn appears slightly brighter during the years
2000-2005 and 2015-2019, periods when its beautiful rings were
tilted more face-on to planet Earth.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Saturn
Publications with words: Saturn
See also: