February 2011 : Good bye Jupiter, hello Saturn
Saturn
In the west of the evening sky, Jupiter approaches the light of the sun. It moves toward conjunction. The observations become very difficult: the altitude over the horizon is less than 30 °.
The atmosphere of Jupiter changes from 2010 august to 2011 February. The south equatorial band (“SEB”) was not visible in 2010, and now we can observe the SEB revival. See pictures 1 and 2 and compare them
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| 2010: August the 1st | 2011 : February 11th |
In the morning, the observers can see Saturn and its rings. At four o’clock, it shines not far from the meridian but not very high in the sky, over 30 °. The rings are more and more visible. On this year 2011, the Cassini’s division is revealed by observing with little telescopes.
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| 2010: May the 25 | 2011 : February 5th |
This spring, Saturn will be the “star” of the sky.
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