Recently I was talking to someone and the subject of star charts came up. I mentioned that I've drawn in the constellations in all of my atlases. Without those lines, all I've got is incomprehensible books of dots. Adding in the lines somehow gives character to the charts. I can flip through the pages and know where I am in the sky.

That got me to thinking about how intimidating learning the constellations must be to people. So here's my plan. For those members interested, I will start holding Constellation School on a quarterly basis starting February 2nd at the observing site. I'll also try to give a little background into the mythology of the constellation. For me, knowing who it is up there in the sky, gives them some personality, and makes them more memorable.

I know it's likely to be cold that first night, but I picked that date so that those members that also want to participate in our Messier Marathon on March 16th will have knowledge of at least some of the constellations.

So bring a warm coat and open eyes on February 2nd, and learn about how absolutely demented the folks that named those things must have been!

Go outside this month about 8pm, face south, and look straight up. There you will see a steady yellowish-orange star. But is it a star? No  - it's our old friend Saturn back in all it's glory.  Several degrees to the east is Jupiter pushing Satrun onward though the night sky in a race for your attention. This month we will concentrate on Saturn. Saturn, with it's beautiful ring system, can be easily seen from just about any location (except under trees!) It is presently just north of Aldebaran in Taurus. Just about any size scope will show you the rings of the 6th planet.

Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture and the Greek god Cronus, who was father of Zeus (Jupiter). "Saturday" comes from, you guessed it Saturn! Although Saturn has been known about since man first looked up into the night sky, it was Galileo who first saw it with a telescope in 1610. It was not until 1659 that Christian Huygens first identified that strange pattern around the planet as rings. Although Saturn has the brightest ring system, it is not alone. It seems all the gas giants have rings--just very very faint. The gap that can be seen on a still night between the A and B rings is called the Cassini Division and seems to be caused by the moon Mimas which is in that location. The ring system is a complex interaction between the material in the ring (mostly ice) and a few of moons of Saturn helping to keep the rings in shape. This is interaction is presently being studied and hopefully Cassini, which will arrive at Saturn in 2004, will help answer many of our questions.

Saturn rotates once every 10 hrs 40 min, thus giving it a noticeable flattening. It is 9.54 AU distance from the sun and has an equatorial diameter of 120,536 km. Saturn is composed of about 75% hydrogen, 25% helium, with traces of water, ammonia, methane, and is thought to have a rocky core. It has an axis tilt of 26.7 degrees and an orbital period of 29.46 years. The tilt is good as it gives us a good view of the rings when at their extreme to us.

The 2 images of Saturn were taken with a quickcam VC and an LX200 at different times of the year from my back yard. So please venture out one of these cold clear nights and take a look. If you don't have a scope come out to the club site and use one of the many large scopes.