Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Tuesday, June 10th.  Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:26.   The moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:51 tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:57.

Tonight the planet Saturn will be near the bright gibbous Moon.  One might need a bit of help locating it in the Moon’s glare.  Saturn is to the right and slightly above the Moon.  Saturn has a few moons of its own.  The count’s up to 62, with another apparently forming from one of Saturn’s rings as monitored by the Cassini spacecraft now in orbit of Saturn.  Cassini, which has about three years left in its mission, entered orbit of Saturn 10 years ago next month after a 7 year journey to get there.  One of the most intensively studied moons is Titan, whose haze foiled the earlier Voyager spacecraft, Cassini and it’s Huygens lander have shown us earthly terrain and methane seas.  Titan is easily seen in small telescopes near Saturn.

Addendum

Saturn and the Moon tonight at 11 p.m., June 10, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

Just Saturn and the Moon showing the moon’s gibbous phase at 11 p.m. June 10, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

Saturn and its moons including Titan at 11 p.m. June 10, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

Titan, as Voyager would have seen it, but photographed by Cassini. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

Titan as seen in the infrared by the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

Seas and lakes at Titan’s north pole seen by radar from the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC.

Image mosaic of Titan from the descending Huygens Lander. Credit: ESA/NASA/Univ. of Arizona.