This weekend we can observe a beautiful conjunction of Saturn with the thin edge of the crescent moon. On Thursday the 18th it will be Jupiter who will be in conjunction with the quarter moon.
The Moon, which was in the new moon phase last Thursday the 11th, presents us with a brilliant crescent edge this weekend. We can look at it shortly after sunset, when the reddish tones of twilight fade in the southwest. At this moment, not only is the thin luminous edge visible, if we look closely we can also see the ashy light faintly illuminating the rest of the lunar disk: that discreet glow comes from solar radiation that is reflected by the Earth and then reaches the our satellite.
If we look at the southwest horizon on Saturday the 13th, one hour after sunset (around 7:15 p.m. peninsular and Balearic time), we can see Selene very low on the horizon and, a little higher, we will see Saturn shining modestly while it waits. the night.
On Sunday the 14th the conjunction will be much closer, with the Moon and Saturn separated by just four degrees.
The ring giant is now among the stars of Aquarius, but it is distinguished from them by maintaining its brightness very stable, while the stars flicker due to atmospheric turbulence. It is not possible to appreciate Saturn’s rings with the naked eye, but an amateur telescope (about 20 or 30x magnification) is enough to offer us a fascinating image (although small in size) of this peculiar planet.