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See Saturn at its biggest and brightest of 2023 this weekend
Aug 25, 2023
Saturn makes for an excellent skywatching target this weekend, thanks to its current position in the solar system.
The ringed gas giant will reach opposition, meaning it will be situated directly opposite from the sun with Earth in the middle. Around the same time, Saturn will reach perigee, its closest approach to Earth, according to In-The-Sky. The combination of these two celestial events means Saturn will appear at its biggest and brightest this weekend. The planet should remain visible through February 2024.
For skywatchers in North America, look to the east-southeast just after sunset to find Saturn in the Aquarius constellation. Within a few hours, the ringed planet should be fairly high in the sky. It will reach its highest point around midnight local time on Sunday (Aug. 27), while the exact moment of opposition will occur a few hours later, around 4:20 a.m. EDT (0820 GMT) on Sunday.
At the moment of opposition, Saturn will reach magnitude 0.4, its brightest for 2023. (Brighter objects have a lower magnitude; the full moon, by comparison, has a magnitude of around -12.6, according to NASA.) This means Saturn should be easily visible to the unaided eye as a bright, non-flickering orb in the sky.
However, viewing Saturn through binoculars should reveal more detail and bring out the pale yellow color of the planet. Under the right conditions, some high-power binoculars could even begin to bring out faint traces of Saturn's rings or even its largest moon, Titan.
Through a telescope, however, Saturn's rings should be clearly apparent. The gas giant's rings are currently beginning to tilt more on-edge toward Earth, and will continue to do so through 2025, according to NASA. That makes this weekend an optimal time to catch a glimpse of one of the best night sky targets available to most backyard skywatchers.
If you're hoping to catch a look at Saturn at opposition or the next big night sky event, our guide to the best binoculars and the best telescopes can help you find the gear you need.
https://www.space.com/saturn-opposition-biggest-brightest-august-2023
Japan will launch SLIM moon lander and space telescope on Aug. 27
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning to launch its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission on Sunday (Aug. 27) at 8:26 p.m. EDT (0026 GMT and 9:26 a.m. Japan time on Aug. 28). You can watch live in the link above this text; coverage will start roughly 35 minutes before launch.
The mission will launch from Tanegashima Space Center atop the Japan's H2-A rocket. SLIM's landing, which is expected to occur four to six months from now, will be Japan's second attempt in recent months to put hardware on the moon's surface. An effort by the Tokyo-based company ispace failed during its landing try on April 25.
Also flying on the H-2A on Sunday is the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) mission, which aims to scrutinize the universe in X-rays. That spacecraft is a collaboration involving JAXA, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
SLIM is a small moon mission with big aims. The probe aims to demonstrate accurate lunar landing techniques with a precise touchdown. The mission plan calls for a landing no more than 328 feet (100 m) from a target inside the moon's Shioli Crater.
From there, the lander will examine the environment surrounding it in Shioli Crater, a 984-foot-wide (300 m) impact feature inside Mare Nectaris. The area is roughly at 13 degrees south latitude and 25 degrees east longitude, on the near side of the moon facing Earth.
If SLIM makes it safely to the surface, Japan will become just the fifth country to do so after the former Soviet Union, the United States, Japan and India. India just joined the group with the historic Aug. 23 touchdown of its Chandrayaan-3 rover-lander duo. (Other countries have made attempts, including Russia, whose Luna-25 lander recently crashed following an unsuccessful maneuver on Aug. 19.)
SLIM is a small moon mission with big aims. The probe aims to demonstrate accurate lunar landing techniques with a precise touchdown. The mission plan calls for a landing no more than 328 feet (100 m) from a target inside the moon's Shioli Crater.
From there, the lander will examine the environment surrounding it in Shioli Crater, a 984-foot-wide (300 m) impact feature inside Mare Nectaris. The area is roughly at 13 degrees south latitude and 25 degrees east longitude, on the near side of the moon facing Earth.
If SLIM makes it safely to the surface, Japan will become just the fifth country to do so after the former Soviet Union, the United States, Japan and India. India just joined the group with the historic Aug. 23 touchdown of its Chandrayaan-3 rover-lander duo. (Other countries have made attempts, including Russia, whose Luna-25 lander recently crashed following an unsuccessful maneuver on Aug. 19.)
JAXA is a partner in the NASA-led Artemis Accords that are aiming for the moon while establishing peaceful norms in space. The accords have dozens of signatories so far, and Japan is among the nations actively participating in NASA's human moon program, called Artemis.
Last year, U.S. president Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed Japan will have a key role in Artemis missions.
A Japanese astronaut will go to NASA's planned Gateway moon-orbiting space station, and both Biden and Kishida have a "shared ambition" to put a Japanese astronaut on the moon, NASA officials stated at the time. (The first expected landing in the NASA program is Artemis 3, no earlier than 2025 or 2026, pending hardware readiness and the success of Artemis 2, a round-the-moon mission scheduled to launch in late 2024.)
Japan received its seats and science on board Artemis missions via a set of international pacts with the U.S. The agreements span matters such as cybersecurity, 5G cellular networks and science and technology collaborations,
https://www.space.com/japan-slim-moon-lander-mission-launch-preview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TTTJ20iRbs
SpaceX Starlink Mission
SpaceX is targeting Saturday, August 26 at 9:05 p.m. ET (01:05 UTC on August 27) for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida. If needed, there are currently three additional launch opportunities starting at 9:56 p.m. ET (01:56 UTC) until 11:04 p.m. ET (03:04 UTC). Four backup opportunities are also currently available on Sunday, August 27 from 8:40 p.m. ET (00:40 UTC on August 28) until 10:39 p.m. ET (02:39 UTC).
This is the third flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched the ESA Euclid mission and Ax-2. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-6-11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEClIbWr3m0