Star Tours : Science File / An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment

The bright “star” that lies 6 degrees south of the nearly full moon is the planet Saturn. Saturn is much larger than the moon, but it is 3,500 times farther away from the Earth. A telescope would have to magnify Saturn 190 times to make it appear as large as our moon does to the unaided eye. Such a telescope would clearly show Saturn’s rings- now nearly edge- on to Earth-and several of its satellities, the brightest of which is bigger than our moon.

Source: John Mosley, Griffith Observatory