Ring Plane Timeline
- May 22, 1995
- The Earth will pass through the ring plane of Saturn. Saturn
rises about 3 hours before sunrise on this day.
- May 22, 1995 to August 10, 1995
- The unlit side of the rings will be visible from Earth.
- August 10, 1995
- The Earth again passes through the ring plane of Saturn.
- September 14, 1995
- Saturn will be at oppostion which means it will rise
at sunset.
- August 10, 1995 to November 17.76, 1995
- The sunlit side of the rings will again be visible from Earth.
- November 17.76, 1995 to November 21.50, 1995
- The ring plane crosses the Sun during these days.
- November 21.50, 1995 to February 11, 1995
- The unlit side of the rings will be visible from Earth.
- February 11, 1996
- The Earth again passes through the ring plane of Saturn
and the sunlit side of the rings will begin to be visible from Earth.
Saturn will set about three hours after sunset on
this day.
Phil Nicholson's Predictions
- May 22.221 UT, 1995 (Earth-crossing 1)
- Aug 10.871 UT, 1995 (Earth-crossing 2)
- Nov 19.631 UT, 1995 (Sun-crossing)
- Feb 11.982 UT, 1996 (Earth-crossing 3)
The uncertainty
in these times is of order 2 hours due
to uncertainties in the pole position of Saturn.
When the Earth passes through the plane of Saturn's rings
the rings will appear edge-on and will certainly be difficult
to detect since the rings are only a few kilometers thick.
Check out
the May 1995 issue of Sky & Telescope magizine
for more information.
From the Earth this is a triple ring plane passage. The next two
ring passages will be single.
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