Monday July 20^th the outer planet Saturn reaches its orbital position known as opposition. This is a position which has the faster moving Earth passing Saturn and at opposition is centered between the outer planet and the Sun. Picture the arrangement with the Moon at full phase; Sun – Earth – Moon, and that is similar to the arrangement for Saturn at opposition.
   When an outer planet, like Saturn, reaches opposition that planet rises around local time for sunset and is visible all night.
   Saturn shares the evening skies over the eastern horizon with Jupiter as both are rising around the local time for sunset. Both will be visible all night, setting around sunrise. The reddish star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion is off to the west from the two giant ringed planets. The ‘Summer Milky Way’ arcs across the sky from the south overhead toward the northeast and if your skies are dark enough should make for awesome viewing. And off to the northwest is Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE).
    And rising over the eastern horizon are the three stars making up the ‘Summer Triangle’.

   
   
   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.


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