Saturn in Opposition
On Sunday, September 8, Saturn comes into opposition, making for some of the best viewing! Surrounded by the dim stars of Aquarius, the planet’s rings can be seen almost edgewise this year!
Saturn will be visible all night in September 2024, rising in the east shortly after sunset. It will reach its closest point to Earth on September 8, offering the best viewing conditions. After that, Saturn will remain visible in the evening sky until disappearing in the sun’s glare in February 2025.
It’s even cooler to see Saturn through a telescope to view its beautiful rings. Any telescope will work, since all you need to see the rings is 30x. No matter how cheap or crummy your telescope is, it will amaze you on Tuesday if you point it to Saturn and, for that matter, the Moon, too. The Moon will be just three days before the first quarter—so the Moon’s lighting will be perfect to reveal countless craters, especially on its bottom side, its south side.
Read Next
Saturn will be in the constellation of Aquarius on Sunday evening. Aquarius is famously one of the 12 well-known zodiac constellations, whose names are also used as the signs in astrology. After all, if at a party you’ve ever told someone you’re a Libra, you may have heard them reply, “Well, I’m an Aquarius.”
Additionally, Saturn is leaving the far southern regions of the Zodiac this year, where it has been for nearly a decade. This low positioning has caused it to be telescopically blurry for the U.S. and Canada, so be sure to look for a clearer view!
Read more about Saturn, The Real Lord of the Rings.
Bob Berman
ADVERTISEMENT
Fascinating; thanks for the information~I might try binoculars~I've seen many planets this summer; one sets behind a big pine tree; very illuminating!!
the bright planet I see is probably Jupiter; I see another planet near it; I have not figured what planet sets very fast around 11 pm Est~(near the Big Dipper)~
I wish I would have known about this sooner! I usually don't get to check my email until the early morning, so I didn't see this until now. Maybe you can give us a little more warning next time. I love your astronomy articles! Sorry I missed Saturn!
