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From: dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd)
Newsgroups: net.astro
Subject: StarDate: March 2 Predawn Stargazing
Message-ID: <450@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 2-Mar-86 02:00:21 EST
Article-I.D.: utastro.450
Posted: Sun Mar  2 02:00:21 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 4-Mar-86 03:12:06 EST
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
Lines: 33

There's plenty to see in the predawn sky.  We'll tell you about it --
after this.

March 2  Predawn Stargazing

Tomorrow morning before the sun comes up, you can see two planets and a
bright star near Earth's companion moon.  The planets are Saturn and
Mars -- and the star is Antares, in the constellation Scorpius.  All
three are very nearly the same brightness.  To tell them apart, you
might look for the object which twinkles most -- that'll be the star.
To tell Mars from Saturn, look at their colors.  Mars is red.  Saturn
appears more golden.

If you looked at these objects with a telescope, you might like Saturn
best of all.  A telescope shows Saturn as a golden ball encircled by a
ring -- or if your telescope is large enough, and if the night is clear
and still enough, by two rings.  The apparent gap in the rings of
Saturn is called Cassini's Division -- and it's actually about as wide
as our Atlantic Ocean!  What's more, it's not really a gap.  Passing
spacecraft have shown thin ringlets inside Cassini's Division --
they've also shown that what are seen in earthbound telescopes as two
rings around Saturn are really hundreds of ringlets.

So that's Saturn, Mars and the star Antares -- near the moon Monday
morning.  And by the way there's another solar system object in the
predawn sky now -- Comet Halley -- back from its travels behind the
sun.  The comet is now low in the southeast before dawn -- and still
best seen from a country location.  Moonlight may interfere with the
view in the morning -- but the moon is now waning -- and the best time
to see Halley is nearly upon us.  Stay tuned.

Script by Deborah Byrd.
(c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin