{"id":30939,"date":"2025-09-19T05:29:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T05:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/30939\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T05:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T05:29:06","slug":"saturn-and-venus-visible-over-ireland-this-weekend-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/30939\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturn and Venus visible over Ireland this weekend \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturn will be visible in the night sky this weekend, while the planet Venus is set to make an appearance on Friday around noon.<\/p>\n

Astronomy Ireland<\/a> is setting up giant telescopes in anticipation of \u201can extremely rare view\u201d of Saturn, which only occurs every 15 years. The ringed planet will be visible to the naked eye as a bright dot in the south. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, the rings are almost edge-on, a sight that only happens on average every 15 years,\u201d said astronomer David Moore. \u201cAnyone seeing it in a big telescope will get an extremely rare view.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a doubt, Saturn is the most incredible object we ever show the general public in our giant telescopes. They transform a bright dot in the sky with the naked eye to a huge globe with cloud belts and rings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can see up to six of its moons which are far too faint to see with the naked eye, but the powerful telescopes can pick them up easily.”<\/p>\n

Star-gazing enthusiasts will have the opportunity to see Saturn through one of Astronomy Ireland\u2019s specialist telescopes at a viewing event<\/a> taking place at the GAA<\/a> Grounds in Roundwood, Co<\/a> Wicklow<\/a>, on Saturday from 4pm. <\/p>\n

BBC<\/a> presenter Dr George Dransfield and DCU\u2019s Prof Oisin Creaner will speak at the event. Dr Simon Steel, of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, will also speak at the event.<\/p>\n

For those hoping to catch a glimpse of Venus, it can be seen between 12.40pm and 12.45pm as well as 2pm and 2.05pm on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

As if Saturn coming closest to Earth this weekend was not enough, the smaller but even brighter planet Venus passes behind the moon on Friday just after noon.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see this in broad daylight even with just your eyes,\u201d said Mr Moore. \u201cThe trick is to stand in the shadow of a building so the sun is covered and not shining directly into your eyes. Then look about twice your handspan at arm\u2019s length to the right of the sun. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou should then be able to see the moon with just your eyes. On the left edge of the moon you should be able to see Venus and around 12:40pm to 12:45pm.\u201d <\/p>\n

He added that depending on where you are in Ireland, Venus will fade over the course of 30 seconds as the edge of the moon slowly covers it. At 2pm, there will be another chance to see the planet, as Venus reappears at the right-hand edge of the moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have binoculars or a small telescope take a close-up look for an incredibly rare sight you may never see again in your lifetime,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturn will be visible in the night sky this weekend, while the planet Venus is set to make…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[29761,581,111,139,69,16196,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-30939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-diplomacy","9":"tag-horizontal","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-royals","14":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}