Opposition of Saturn on New Year's Day morning
Opposition of Saturn on New Year's Day morning (23 Dec 2003)
Saturn will be at opposition on 1 January 2004 (Thursday). During opposition, Saturn, the Earth and the Sun will align in a straight line with the Earth in between. From the Earth's perspective, Saturn will be fully illuminated by the Sun (Figure 1).
Details on the times of rise, transit and set of Saturn from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day are shown below.
|
Rise of Saturn |
5:46 p.m., 31 December 2003 in the east-northeast |
|
Transit of Saturn |
0:27 a.m., 1 January 2004 elevation around 90 degrees |
|
Time of opposition |
5:56 a.m., 1 January 2004 in the west-northwest, elevation around 15 degrees |
|
Set of Saturn |
7:07 a.m., 1 January 2004 in the west-northwest |
Opposition of Saturn occurs about once every 378 days. Saturn and its ring structure can be observed a few months before and after the opposition of Saturn. Interested observers may consider observing Saturn, preferably with a telescope with 30 times or above magnification.
Please refer to the Hong Kong Observatory Homepage for detailed information on the Opposition of Saturn:
