Saturnian Moon Transits

[Akyra]

Titan, Saturn's major moon, shines at magnitude 8.4 and circles Saturn almost twice per month. You can see it north of Saturn on June 11/12 and June 27/28 and south of Saturn on June 19/20.

The orbit of the two-toned outer moon Iapetus now crosses the planet's face. In the next couple of years, we'll see the inner moons actually transiting the planet as Saturn's rings tip edgewise.

On June 13, you can spot Iapetus transiting Saturn's north pole, moving from the eastern side of the planet to the western. Once Iapetus reaches its western elongation in early July, it'll shine at its brightest (magnitude 10.2). The fainter moons become more difficult to spot as Saturn sinks lower into twilight and our atmosphere's haze.

Moon transits, and a farewell to Saturn.