God’s Infinite Canvas

You can currently observe four of our neighboring planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn. In April, Saturn’s rings will be almost edge-on, appearing as a “line” through the planet when viewed with binoculars or a small telescope. A small telescope can also detect Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, which appears as an orange star always close to Saturn. Of course the planets move, so consult the Star Charts at www.answersmagazine.com to find where to look.

Did you know that Orion, one of the easiest constellations to recognize, has a cloud of dust and gas (a nebula) in his sword? Orion’s belt is easy to spot, with the three bright stars in a row. Just below the belt is Orion’s sword, with three fainter stars that are closer together. The middle “star” is actually the Great Orion Nebula. A telescope or even binoculars reveal its cloudy appearance.

In mid-June, the best globular cluster in the Northern Hemisphere, M13, is high in the eastern sky in the constellation Hercules. You can barely see it with binoculars, but it is spectacular with a telescope. You can also see M3, another globular cluster. In mid-April, the Pleiades (a small star cluster mentioned in the book of Job) is visible in the west.