Sunday guest

Calcutta, Feb. 23: A celestial Sunday treat is on the way.

Saturn, the sixth planet in the solar system, will burn bright in the Indian sky after sunset tomorrow. It will stay there till the sun is back at 6.08 the next morning.

To people in Calcutta, Saturn will appear like a bright jewel. It will rise in the eastern sky at 5.31pm and the clearest view can be expected around 11.51pm, when it appears directly overhead.

This is also the time when the planet comes closest to Earth, at 1,238 million kilometres.

“Around 2.30pm on Sunday afternoon, Saturn will be directly opposite the Sun,” said Debiprosad Duari, director, research and academics, MP Birla Planetarium.

The planet has 61 moons — the largest being Titan, which orbits Saturn in about 16 days .

With a low-power-aperture telescope, Saturn will look like a golden oval object but the rings will not be distinct.

Small-aperture telescopes will show Titan, the rings and the Cassini Division, the gap between the rings and the planet.

Larger telescopes will catch not only the gold and brown cloud bands around the planet, but also the Cassini Division and several moons other than Titan.