On Saturday evening, an event could have gone unnoticed if it had not been highlighted by the Aspach astronomy club: the occultation of Saturn by the Moon. The members invited the public to come and observe the phenomenon at the Maison des associations.
Unfortunately, cloudy weather prevented the use of optical instruments.
A diameter nine times larger than that of the Earth
It was therefore in the room, using photo and video montages that Jean-Jacques Ludwig, the head of Astro Aspach, presented the rare process of occultation of the planet Saturn by the Moon which took place on the 4th. January 1925 from 6:27 p.m. to 7:33 p.m. This phase was last observed in 2007 and will not be visible again until 2035.
The giant gas planet Saturn, made essentially of hydrogen and helium, is fascinating in more than one way: its diameter (120,500 km) is nine times that of Earth. In its volume we could accommodate 763 times the planet Earth, and its mass, because of its very low density, is equivalent to 95 times that of the Earth.
The Moon, with a diameter of 3,474 km and only 384,400 km from our planet, can obscure the imposing Saturn because it is 1.3 billion km away. It was therefore with “their heads in the stars” that the audience (including children accompanied by their parents, informed via primary school), dreamed of the solar system and its gigantism.
Timéo: “Later, I would like to be part of NASA! »
Philipe Simon then presented a fascinating slideshow concerning the possibility of going to Mars, debunking preconceived ideas, by shedding light on the enormous constraints which make the operation unthinkable. Right now!
Mike and Charlotte had come with their daughter Sacha, 5 years old: “We have already hiked the planet trail located above Aspach and would like to introduce our daughter to astronomy. »
Siméo, 8 years old, was accompanied by his mother, Angélique: “I have games at home like “It’s not rocket science” and a story box which made me want to become interested in astronomy. And then, I read books as well as Tintin comics Moon Objective et We walked on the Moon. » Passionate about the subject, the boy adds: “Later, I would like to be part of NASA! »
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