In other words, the circle that the viewer makes in the sky should be very tight around that point of light," he said. Blanco recommends an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope; check out Space. Don't worry if you can't locate a telescope in time, because Saturn is one of the most distant objects that people can view in the sky with the naked eye. As a general rule of thumb, Plait recommends finding the brightest point in the night sky after Venus has set, that is — that planet is easy to recognize because it shines low in the sky after sunset or before sunrise.
Understanding how opposition works will help, too. Opposition occurs when a planet appears opposite the sun in Earth's sky. In this case, Saturn will climb high in the Northern Hemisphere's sky at night because it is opposite the sun, which is high in the sky on the daytime side.
The red line indicates the inclination of the rings to the Sun's line of sight to the planet. Interesting phenomena can occur when the rings are very close to edge-on, if the Sun illuminates one side of the rings, while we see the other.
At such times, we see the unilluminated side of the rings. For a few hours around the exact moment of opposition, it may be possible to discern a marked brightening of Saturn's rings in comparison to the planet's disk, known as the Seeliger Effect. This occurs because Saturn's rings are made of a fine sea of ice particles which are normally illuminated by the Sun at a slightly different angle from our viewing angle, so that we see some illuminated particles and some which are in the shadow of others.
At around the time of opposition, however, the ice particles are illuminated from almost exactly the same direction from which we view them, meaning that we see very few which are in shadow. At opposition, Saturn is visible for much of the night. When it lies opposite to the Sun in the sky, this means that it rises at around the time the Sun sets, and it sets at around the time the Sun rises. It reaches its highest point in the sky at around midnight local time.
But even when it is at its closest point to the Earth, it is not possible to distinguish it as more than a star-like point of light without the aid of a telescope. A chart of the path of Saturn across the sky in can be found here , and a chart of its rising and setting times here.
At the moment of opposition, Saturn will lie at a distance of 8. Its celestial coordinates at the moment it passes opposition will be:. Over the weeks following its opposition, Saturn will reach its highest point in the sky four minutes earlier each night, gradually receding from the pre-dawn morning sky while remaining visible in the evening sky for a few months. Waning Crescent. This event was automatically generated by searching the ephemeris for planetary alignments which are of interest to amateur astronomers, and the text above was generated based on an estimate of your location.
Latitude: Longitude: Timezone:. Light Night mode. For more information including contact details, click here. The disturbance, visible in the lower left of this image, is thought to be an icy body migrating out of the ring, believed to be part of the process required to form a moon.
Cassini's top 10 discoveries about Saturn — 2. Icy plumes on Saturn's moon Enceladus. Here, the plumes can be seen back-lit by the sun. The discovery was such a surprise that the mission was completely reshaped to get a better look. Evidence of water-based ice in the plume excited scientists further, as life as we know it relies on water.
Cassini's top 10 discoveries about Saturn — 1. The Huygens probe makes first landing on a moon in the outer solar system. The Huygens probe's historic landing in was the most distant to date. In addition to providing this photo, the probe found the moon to be similar to Earth before life evolved, with methane rain, erosion, drainage channels and dry lake beds. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
On August 1 and 2, Saturn will be at opposition, meaning the Earth will be located between the ringed planet and the sun. This is when the outer planet will be at its most luminous, making for a brilliant night sky view. Saturn's opposition is at 2 a. ET on August 2, or 11 p. Once Venus sinks below the horizon after the sun sets, Jupiter will be the brightest object in the sky, EarthSky said. To find Saturn, look just west of Jupiter.
Saturn is shown as it approaches its northern hemisphere summer solstice. If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of Saturn's famous rings, you'll need to whip out a telescope, according to the Farmer's Almanac. Read More. Don't worry if your town has cloudy weather at the beginning of August because Saturn will remain bright in the sky for the rest of the month, EarthSky said.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun, and it would take nine Earths to span the diameter of the gaseous planet, according to NASA -- and that's not including the rings. Full moons. Typical of a normal year, has 12 full moons. There were 13 full moons last year, two of which were in October. Hubble finds water vapor around Jupiter's moon Ganymede.
Here are all of the full moons remaining this year and their names, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac :. August 22 -- sturgeon moon.
September 20 -- harvest moon. October 20 -- hunter's moon. November 19 -- beaver moon. December 18 -- cold moon.
Be sure to check for the other names of these moons as well , attributed to their respective Native American tribes. Meteor Showers.
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