Saturn

Saturn is the second largest of the gas-giants and telescopically the most beautiful of the planets. This is because Saturn has a ring system comprising of trillions of moonlets made of water ice and can be easily seen with quite a modest telescope. Binoculars will not show the rings but rather show Saturn as a bright yellow oblate blob, however a telescope will reveal the Cassini division in the rings and possibly some faint cloud structure.


Image: Saturn's position (ringed in red), as of 17 May 2009, among the outer planets in the Solar System. Image created with Solar System Simulator V4

Advertisment