Saturn and Scorpius

Have you seen Saturn in the evening sky? It is easy to see - look south as the Sun sets this August. It will be the brighter than all the stars nearby. 

Click on image to enlarge. See Saturn in the south at 9 PM. Image credit: Stellarium and Me

If you find Saturn, look below and slightly towards the east for a star shape that looks like a large fishing hook. The hook will almost touch the horizon. Can you see it in the image above? If you find it, you have found Scorpius the Scorpion. See image below if you need a little help. 

Click image to enlarge. Can you see the fishing hook shape of Scorpius above? Image Credit: Stellarium and Me

Because Saturn's orbit is about 30 years long, it appears to travel slowly against the background stars, which are much farther away. It takes about two and a half years for Saturn to move through a constellation. Next summer at this time it will be a bit to the east (and above) Antares, and in 2017 it will be in between Scorpius and Sagittarius. See images below: 

Click image to enlarge. Check out Saturn and Mars in August of next year. Image credit: Stellarium and Me.

Click image to enlarge. Saturn will be moving out of Scorpius in August of 2017, and into Sagittarius. Image credit: Stellarium and Me.

Saturn is pretty to look at in the night sky, but I find it even more fascinating to gaze up at it and remember images I have seen of it from the Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn for over a decade! 
 
Here are some of Cassini's latest images of Saturn and its moons:
(All images are credited to NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute and can be found here.)

Moons Mimas (right) and Dione (left) are in the foreground, separated by the thin line of Saturn's rings. Saturn's atmosphere looms in the background. Image released August 3, 2015.

Saturn's moon Tethys in enhanced color. Read about what the colors indicate here. Image released July 29, 2015.

Not So Titanic: Saturn is 23 times larger than its largest moon Titan, to the left in this image. Image released July 13, 2015.

And here are some of Cassini's greatest hits:

A storm in Saturn's atmosphere, that eventually wrapped around the entire planet.

Click to enlarge - really! Saturn is eclipsing the Sun, revealing its thinnest ring and Earth! Click here for more information and to see an annotated version of the image.

Cassini will run out of fuel eventually. It has been one of the most successful space missions EVER - just imagine, 10 years in orbit, working great for all that time, revealing a methane cycle on Titan, liquid water in Enceladus, and providing a wealth of information about the Saturn system, with over 3,000 papers published using its data. When it does run out of fuel, probably in 2017, Cassini will dive into Saturn's atmosphere in a grand finale. Until then, we can enjoy the new data and images Cassini provides, and enjoy imagining Earth's little robotic emissary orbiting Saturn when we gaze up at it from Earth. 

Good luck finding Saturn in the August night sky, and remember, the Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum is the place to visit to learn more about stars, constellations, and the planets!