finding saturn over ireland

fguihen

hi. very new to astronomy. i can find venus, being one of the brightest things in the sky, but saturn is eluding me. i found it ages ago, but cant find it now. I live in ireland. how do i find it in relation to venus, or any of the other planets for that matter?

redman

At this time of the year you need to wait up till about 1:30am and Saturn will rise northeast/easterly.

You say you can see Venus (which currently sets before 7pm and rises at about 2pm), do you mean Mars by any chance which is very bright at the moment rising in the east and would be almost south by the time Saturn rises?

This months PC Format comes with a Free Starry Night application for PC use which will help you map the sky.

Redman

fguihen

thanks. its prob mars im seeing so. its real bright, and low in the sky when i go out around 11 pm. thanks

Flukey

Yes, that is Mars. As the winter progresses it will rise earlier and Saturn will be visible earlier too. It is also quite bright and a magnificent sight in even a small telescope. The very first time you look through one and see its rings is a great moment. It's small, but this is how I see it through mine:



If you are new to astronomy you should register on
www.heavens-above.com

It is a very good site and once you register and put in your location it will show you what you can see frow where you are. It will give you times and directions for seeing things like satellites or the International Space Station, which passes over Ireland every night for about 2 weeks, every couple of months.