Conjunction between the Moon and Saturn
2017 Apr 16
Dominic Ford – originally published on In-The-Sky.org
The Moon and Saturn will make a close approach, passing within 3°13' of each other.
From London (click to change), the pair will be difficult to observe as they will appear no higher than 16° above the horizon. They will be visible in the morning sky. They will become accessible at around 02:26, when they rise 7° above your south-eastern horizon. They will then reach its highest point in the sky at 05:11, 16° above your southern horizon. They will be lost to dawn twilight at around 05:40, 16° above your southern horizon.
At the moment of closest approach, the Moon will be at mag -12.2, and Saturn at mag 1.0, both in the constellation Sagittarius.
The pair will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.
The precise positions of the Moon and Saturn at the moment of closest approach will be as follows:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| The Moon | 17h49m50s | -18°50' | Sagittarius | -12.2 | 29'31"5 |
| Saturn | 17h49m00s | -22°03' | Sagittarius | 1.0 | 17"4 |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0. The pair will be at an angular separation of 119° from the Sun, which is in Pisces at this time of year.
The details of this observing event were provided courtesy of In-The-Sky.org
.