Saturn is undoubtedly the most popular planet, especially among children and the general public. Its wonderful ring system, which can be seen well even with a small telescope, makes it a unique planet in the Solar System.
Unlike Mars and Jupiter, which are currently in the Taurus/Gemini zone, Saturn is fairly low in the sky from UK shores, among the stars of the mostly southern constellation of Aquarius. Despite this, Saturn still reaches a reasonable altitude of between 26° and 31° from UK shores when it peaks at around 1am in early September. City and town dwellers need only find a reasonably flat horizon from the south-west to the south-east to see Saturn clear of local buildings and vegetation.
Saturn shines at magnitude +0.6, significantly brighter than any star in its immediate vicinity and the four stars at the corners of the Great Square of Pegasus, which are seen immediately north of Saturn and about twice as high in the sky. So there are no local light pollution issues to spoil the view; Saturn is easy to see with the naked eye and can be observed through any telescope.
Saturn will enter opposition on 8 September, when it will be 1.295 million kilometres (8.658 AU) away from us. It is located in north-east Aquarius, about 4° south of the border with Pisces to the north. Saturn rises at 19:30 GMT from London and can be observed from around 22:00 BST until 04:00, during which time the planet is above 20° altitude. Saturn can be observed in similar circumstances for the rest of September and remains in the evening sky until early February 2025.
Observers viewing Saturn for the first time with a telescope may be disappointed. The angle at which we see the rings is constantly changing, and over a period of several successive years, the rings are tilted toward us at a narrow angle, which unfortunately reduces the view we get. This month, the rings are tilted by just 3.7°, a far cry from the 27° or so they were when they were fully open, which was last in 2017.
Saturn's main rings are 270,000 kilometers (166,000 miles) in diameter but less than 100 meters (328 feet) thick. They are not a single solid mass, but are divided into three distinct main rings that can be seen through a telescope. The outer A ring is separated from the wider B ring by the famous 3,000-kilometer-wide Cassini division. Inside the B ring lies the dark C ring, or crepe ring, a spot that is difficult to observe even under good circumstances because of its darkness and the distracting glare of Saturn's disk.
Saturn has a huge family of moons: 146 with confirmed orbits at last count. Eight are visible with amateur telescopes. The giant moon Titan (mag. +8.3) is by far Saturn's dominant satellite and is only two percent smaller than Jupiter's giant moon Ganymede; its 5,150-km (3,200-mile) diameter makes it larger than the planet Mercury and 50 percent larger than our Moon. It is easily spotted by a small telescope, and its position can be plotted on any night along its 15.9-day orbit.
Saturn’s second moon Rhea, at magnitude +9.7, and Tethys and Dione, at magnitude +10.2 and +10.4, respectively, are all within the range of a small- to medium-aperture telescope. Saturn’s third-largest and farthest moon, Iapetus, is a bit of an oddball. Because of its strikingly contrasting hemispheres—one bright and one dark—it shines 2 magnitudes brighter at greatest western elongation relative to Saturn than at greatest eastern elongation (magnitude +10.5 versus +12.7). Its next brightest will be on October 13.
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