Observing Iapetus in 2005
Jane Houston Jones has written an excellent
article on observing
Iapetus in 2005.
This page shows
charts for the next eastern and western elongations of Iapetus,
as discussed in Jane's article.
As time goes by, I'll add charts for later dates.
March 15, 2005: Eastern elongation
Iapetus will be roughly magnitude 11.9, with its dark side facing us.
Compare to the star marked 128 to the northwest, at magnitude 12.8,
to the star marked 122 farther to the northwest, magnitude 12.2,
or to Saturn's moon Enceladus (mag 11.8) vs. brighter Tethys (magnitude 10.3).
![[Iapetus: Mar 15 2005 eastern elongation]](iap-eastern-mar.gif)
April 24, 2005: Western elongation
Iapetus will be roughly magnitude 10, with its bright side facing us.
Compare to Saturn's moons Rhea (magnitude 9.8), Dione (mag 10.2)
or Tethys (mag 10.3). The stars near Iapetus are all magnitude 12
and should be quite a bit fainter than Iapetus.
![[Iapetus: Apr 24 2005 western elongation]](iap-western-apr.gif)
All
charts created using XEphem