Don't miss the moon and Saturn put on a spectacular show before sunrise June 10
In this photo captured Dec. 17, 2020, the moon shines to the left of Saturn and Jupiter. (Image credit: Christophe Lehenaff viaGetty Images)
Early risers on Wednesday morning (June 10) will be able to partake in an interesting rendezvous between the moon and a bright planet. Set your alarm for 3 a.m. and upon heading outside, look due east. Make sure you don't have any tall obstructions, such as trees or buildings, in your way. You'll first notice a fat waning crescent moon, two days past last quarter phase. At that hour, the moon will stand 10 degrees above the horizon, roughly the equivalent of the width of your fist.Then, look about 5 degrees (half a fist) to the lower right of the moon and you'll see a rather bright "star" shining with a soft yellowish-white hue. Except that's not a star, but a planet.The "Lord of the Rings" — Saturn.If you are unable to see the moon and/or Saturn because trees or buildings are blocking your view, then wait another hour until the eastern sky has begun to light up with the break of dawn. By that time, both objects will have doubled their respective altitudes above the horizon and shifted toward the east-southeast.Celestial pièce de résistanceFor most amateur and professional astronomers, Saturn is the telescopic showpiece of the night sky. No photograph or verbal description can duplicate the thrill of seeing this ringed beauty through a telescope for yourself.The generally accepted magnification for getting a glimpse of the rings is 30x, however, Murray Paulson, who edits the Planets and Satellites section of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Observer's Handbook comments that "The rings. . . are visible even in steadied (or image-stabilized) high power binoculars and small spotting scopes." Those rings consist of countless billions of particles, the bulk of which are tiny, measuring from about the size of a grain of sand up to car-sized boulders, though the largest boulders are estimated to range anywhere from 30 to 60 feet (9 to 18 meters) across. These particles are made of — or covered by — water ice. This would account for their exceedingly high reflectivity. The reason that "rings" is plural and not singular is that gaps and brightness differences define distinct rings; complex subsystems of rings within rings.
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