#saturn

#saturn

This Wednesday, the closest supermoon of the year will be visible in the night sky. Viewers will have the best chance of seeing the moonrise on Thursday, right after sunset by looking at the horizon. This month's supermoon is one of three occurring this year, the next being Dec. 4. A supermoon occurs when the moon is closer to the Earth than usual, due to its elliptical orbit, which can make it appear larger and brighter in the sky.

None of the rocky planets, asteroids, or known Kuiper belt objects have a system of rings. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune possess them, but they're all much fainter, sparser, smaller, and less massive than Saturn's. In addition, Saturn's rings are: significantly tilted with respect to the planet's axis of rotation, are made almost exclusively of water-ice, and are actively in the process of evaporating.

Saturn's rings were likely first seen by Galileo in 1610, who could only see a pair of blobs due to the quality of his telescope.