If you have binoculars, you may want to consider setting your alarm for Friday (May 31) at around 4 a.m. local time (3 a.m. if you live in Hawaii, Arizona, or Puerto Rico, where daylight savings time is not observed). If you go outside at that hour and look to the east-southeast, you’ll probably see two of the most popular celestial objects to look at through binoculars: Moon and the planet Saturn.
The moon will be just over half a day after it officially reaches its last quarter, or half-moon phase. Some might ask why we call the moon a “quarter moon” at this particular phase, since it is quite obvious that what we see in the sky is a half-illuminated moon. But the “quarter” refers not to what we see in the sky, but rather to the Moon beginning its final quarter in its 29.53-day cycle, known as the synodic month.
The word synodical is derived from the ancient Greek word “sunodos”, which in the mid-1600s became the English word “synod”, meaning “meeting”; because in new month phase the moon “meets” the sun. So the synodic month begins with a new moon and the moon enters the last quarter of that month in the last quarter phase.
Related: What is the moon phase today? Lunar phase 2024
Saturn over the moon
And on Friday morning, it was hovering about 1.2 degrees above the “Lord of the Rings” moon, the planet Saturn. To the eye, it appears as a bright yellow-white “star” that is currently shining size +1.2, about as bright as the star Fomalhaut, which will be about 23 degrees to the lower right of the Moon and Saturn this morning.
Your clenched fist, held at arm’s length, measures roughly 10 degrees across. Fomalhaut will therefore be located a little more than “two fists” from this Moon/planet pair and will also be similarly colored (yellow-white). The visual difference between Saturn and Fomalhaut is that Procyon appears to shimmer, while Saturn shines a steady, calm glow.
Over the years, people have told me that they own a telescope but have never seen Saturn through it. Reason? Most beginners in astronomy have trouble positively identifying it. In fact, there is nothing really special about Saturn. Venus and Jupiter can be recognized by their great brilliance and Mars a distinctive fiery orange color appears. Saturn is indeed bright, but doesn’t seem to “stand out” much against the background star. What you would really like to have is some kind of yardstick to know where it is.
That benchmark on Friday morning will be the Moon.
Bonus for South America
By the way, if you’re reading this from the southern third of South America, anywhere below a line running roughly from Santiago, Chile to Florianopolis, Brazil, you’ll be able to see the moon pass directly in front of Saturn — cover — with Saturn disappearing behind the bright side of the Moon and reappearing about 20 to 30 minutes later behind the dark, unlit side. A fascinating sight!
Almost edge rings
Binoculars trained on Saturn will always reveal it to be a beautiful sight, even if at present its famous rings appear almost sideways towards us. Earth. They are currently only 2.2 degrees from the edge and look set to close in a bit more during June. Then as we move into summer and fall as our planet and Saturn move through their respective orbits sunthe angular perspective of the rings will change and they will appear to have noticeably “opened up” a bit, so that by early December they will be tilted more than 5 degrees in our direction.
If you have a 4-inch scope, the best view will be when using the 100-power. With an 8-inch scope, the 200 power gives you an absolutely spectacular view, while through a 12-inch scope at the 300 power, it’s a jaw-dropping view. Even veterans like me who have seen Saturn countless times over the years never tire of looking at it.
Moon also puts on a show
And don’t forget to look at the moon too! Most might say that the best time to look at our nearest neighbor is when it’s in full phase, but that’s probably worst time to look at it! When the Moon is full, it tends to be too bright, as well as flat and one-dimensional in appearance. In contrast, around the interval of several days when the Moon is around the first or last quarter phase, we get the best view of the lunar landscape directly along the line of sunrise and sunset, or the terminator.
If you get out with your binoculars on a Friday morning before dawn, I bet you’ll be so fascinated by what you see that you’ll stay out almost until sunrise. And by the way, we’re only about a week apart now time the oldest sunrise in the northern hemisphere.
Great way to start your Friday!