Doorstep astronomy this weekend

Saturn hasn't quite reached opposition -- that time when it is directly opposite the Sun in the night sky. That will come in late January. When it does, as you might expect, Saturn rises at about the same time as the Sun sets. But right now Saturn rises around 8:00 p.m. a bit north of due east, and is easily visible by 9:00. (Low eastern horizons are pretty rare around here!) Each evening it will rise just a little earlier, as Earth continues circling the Sun. This weekend the waning Moon passes near Saturn in the sky from our perspective on Earth, and it serves as a convenient guidepost to find the beautiful ringed planet. Here's a short feature from the JPL Saturn Cassini web site that includes a chart for finding Saturn relative to the Moon over this coming weekend: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1907> Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org