Saturn to glisten in weekend sky as it reaches opposition
One of the largest planets in our solar system will take center stage in the night sky this weekend, presenting the perfect opportunity to set up a telescope.
This weekend, the night sky will feature Saturn shining at its brightest on Aug. 27. Don’t miss out on the best chance to see the gas giant and its iconic rings.
Weekend stargazers will be treated with stellar views of Saturn, the ringed jewel of the solar system, as it reaches its closest point to the Earth.
On Sunday, Aug. 27, Saturn will reach opposition, the point in its orbit when it appears in the opposite part of the sky as the sun. As a result, the planet will shine all night long, rising in the east around sunset and gradually gliding across the southern sky before setting in the west around daybreak.
Opposition is also around the same time that Saturn is closest to the Earth, meaning that the planet will appear brighter this weekend than any other time of the year.
This image of Saturn was taken on 22 January 2006 using a webcam attached to a 14-inch Shmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Photograph by Jamie Cooper. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)
While opposition falls on Sunday, any cloud-free night throughout the rest of August or into the start of September will provide stargazers with sights of the ringed planet.
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Saturn is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye, but a telescope will be required to see its famous rings.
Many telescopes are powerful enough for folks to see the massive rings that encircle the planet, but larger telescopes will reveal some of the bands of clouds in its atmosphere, as well as the largest of its many moons.
Saturn, by Jamie Cooper. This image showing Saturn with six of it's moons was taken on 26th January 2006 at 22:11 hrs UT using a webcam attached to a 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The moons are from left to right: Titan, Mimas,Tethys, Rhea, Enceladus and Dione. (Photo by Jamie Cooper/SSPL/Getty Images)
Saturn will continue to be a prominent feature in the evening sky throughout the rest of 2023 although it will not appear quite as bright as it will in the late August sky.
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