Week of April 21-27, 2013

It is often said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, so if I were to ask which is the most beautiful of all planets, I would expect many answers.

Is it the delicate white crescent of Venus? The undulating cloud bands and dancing moons of Jupiter? The ominously red planet Mars? One can easily make a case for each of these, as well as for our own blue and white Earth.

But if you were like most stargazers, you'd probably immediately answer: "the ringed planet Saturn." And with that I must agree. So for all you Saturn lovers out there, this month's for you!

Saturn reaches its "opposition" point on April 28, when it appears in our sky opposite the sun, rising in the east at sunset and glistening all night long.

You should have little trouble spotting Saturn, since it's one of the brightest objects in the southeastern sky not long after dark. First, find the bright yellowish star Arcturus by following the arc of the Big Dipper's handle away from its bowl. To the right of Arcturus lie two other bright "stars." The upper and fainter of the two is Spica. The lower one is not a star at all; this is the planet Saturn.

Not only does Saturn's opposition mean that lies opposite the sun in our sky, it also means it's closest to the Earth. This week Saturn approaches to nearly 820 million miles and produces a marvelous view through a small telescope.

If you've never gazed at this planet for yourself, you have no idea what you're missing. Everyone's first view elicits a gasp of wonder, as the remarkably three-dimensional ringed world appears suspended against the blackness of space.

Even a small instrument with a magnifying power of only 30x or so will show its rings; of course, a larger telescope with a higher magnification will show not only the rings but also the separations between them known as the Cassini Divisions. In addition, Saturn's largest and brightest moon, Titan, appears with even the smallest of instruments.

Making the sight even more meaningful is an appreciation of what we're really seeing. Saturn is a world made almost entirely of gasses, with a diameter about 9.5 times greater than the Earth's. Its rings, if brought here, would fill much of the space between our planet and the moon.

We know today that, even though the rings appear solid, they are actually composed of billions of individual ice chunks — some as tiny as dust grains, some as massive as mountains — and all revolving about the planet at tens of thousands of miles per hour.

Saturn will remain in our evening sky throughout the summer, but during the next month or so expect it to offer a truly spectacular sight through a small telescope. If you don't have a telescope of your own, call your local planetarium or amateur astronomy club to see when their next public "star party" will be so you won't miss this remarkable sight.

One glimpse at this stunning ringed world and you'll most likely agree: Saturn is without question the most beautiful planet of our solar system!

Visit Dennis Mammana at www.dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.