NASA: Saturn Rings to Pull a Celestial Houdini on August 11, 2009
In 1918, Harry Houdini created a sensation when he made a 10,000 pound elephant disappear before a mystified audience of over 5,200 in New York City. But a vanishing pachyderm is nothing compared to the magnificent illusion to be performed by Saturn on Aug. 11, 2009, according to NASA, when Saturn makes its 170,000-mile-wide ring system disappear -- a rare sight that only happens about once every 15 years.
Comments:
"Saturn's orbit has brought it so close to the sun that it is extremely difficult to see even with the best of telescopes," said Spilker.<br><br>That is very poorly worded! In fact, Earth's orbital motion has positioned <i>us</i> to place Saturn near the Sun in the sky, making it difficult to observe. E-mail your friends that Saturn's orbit is going to bring it close to Sun...start another "hoax"!<br><br>Maybe I'm just too picky.
<br>OMG! Did NASA just say that Saturn is going to crash into the Sun? Spread the word.<br><br>BTW -- Isn't August the month that Mars is going to be so close to the Earth that it will look like the full moon?<br><br>Wow -- What an exciting month this will be!<br><br>Time to pull out grandma's opera glasses.<br><br>Guy<br><br><br><br><blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="italic"><i>Steve Mathis said:</i><br><br>"Saturn's orbit has brought it so close to the sun that it is extremely difficult to see even with the best of telescopes," said Spilker.<br><br>That is very poorly worded! In fact, Earth's orbital motion has positioned <i>us</i> to place Saturn near the Sun in the sky, making it difficult to observe. E-mail your friends that Saturn's orbit is going to bring it close to Sun...start another "hoax"!<br><br>Maybe I'm just too picky.</div></blockquote>
Yeah -- thats the ticket! I was lookin at the sun with my 60" TMB apo when I saw Saturn sorta dippin' and bobbin' like it was going to smoke a Corona, and then "Pow"!!<br><br>Yep - that was on August 11th 2009 a few days ago. Made a huge sunspot that melted the North Pole.<br><br>I never saw the rings.
