Seen Saturn Lately?

On December 17, Earth and Saturn had their closest encounter in nearly 30 years. Furthermore, the planet’s rings are tipped toward Earth. It is an unbeatable combination for sky watchers who can easily see Saturn’s rings using backyard telescopes or binoculars.

The Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe which began their seven-year journey to the ringed planet on October 15, 1997, are scheduled to enter orbit around Saturn on July 1 2003.

The Galileo spacecraft which has been orbiting Jupiter for 5 years longer than its initial mission plan has been programmed to impact with Jupiter in September 2003 to avoid the risk of it contaminating the moon Europa which might be a habitat for extraterristrial life.