Saturn and the Moon are rising together on the eastern horizon and rising higher and higher together; this phenomenon will be visible to the naked eye in the sky after 10:00 p.m. on July 24 – the Svábhegy MTI Observatory reported on Friday.
The waning Moon will begin to rise above the eastern horizon at 10:22 p.m., and Saturn will be visible just one lunar disk above the 84th percentile, i.e., the waxing Moon. Despite the Moon's proximity, Saturn will be visible to the naked eye – reads the information, according to which an open, unobstructed horizon is required to see the Moon and Saturn rise, but the conjunction can also be observed later, when both are already rising higher.
According to the information sheet, the waning moonrise presents a special spectacle in itself: the pale lunar disk, glowing in orange-red tones, is “flattened” by atmospheric refraction, and this effect is further enhanced by the “biting” phase of the waning moon. With the help of a portable telescope, the craters Atlas and Hercules and the Taurus mountain range can be observed in the northern hemisphere of the moon near the border of the light shadow, while in the south the Nectaris basin is preparing to rest, they write.
Above it, Saturn's faint, starlike orange patch of light will be visible, shining equally. Later, at 11:25 p.m., the pair will be 10 degrees above the horizon. By this time, Saturn will be farther from the moon, at 43 arc minutes away, so the gaseous planet rising to the moon's right will definitely be visible to the naked eye.
Saturn, the “ringed giant,” is the second largest planet in our solar system. The most interesting part of the planet, the booklet says, is its vast ring system, which lies in the planet’s equatorial plane and extends 120,000 kilometers (74,000 miles) across.
