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Colorado Martini
Get Ready for Saturn's Stellar Performance
2023-08-25
Saturn from the Hubble TelescopePhoto byNASA, ESA, and Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
On August 27, 2023, Saturn will be at its closest distance to the Earth and visible all night. Saturn will be its brightest on Sunday when it reaches its “opposition.” Before we explain what an “opposition” is, you need a few Saturn basics.
Saturn has thousands of “ringlets” around the planet. This is what makes the planet so unique. Although all four gas giant planets do have rings. They are just hard to see.
Saturn is mostly hydrogen and helium. Giving it its yellowish colors. The plant is approximately 900 million miles from the Sun. That is almost 10 times as far as Earth is from the Sun.
It takes Saturn 29 Earth years to make one orbit around the Sun. A day on Saturn is only 10.7 Earth hours. The planet is nine times larger than Earth and has a temperature of -288 degrees Fahrenheit.
Like Earth, Saturn has four seasons. Due to its long orbit around the Sun, each season lasts approximately seven Earth years. Saturn’s autumn will not be until May 6, 2025. Kind of reminds you of Game of Thrones, “winter is coming.”
Saturn close to its equinoxPhoto byNASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute, Published: May 14, 2018
Saturn’s opposition is when Earth passes between Saturn and the Sun. Since Saturn takes 29.4 years to orbit the sun, this opposition happens once every 378 days per 54 weeks.
This means that from Earth, Saturn will be entirely illumined by the Sun. Appearing to us as a very big and bright disk. It will remain close, big, and bright from mid-August through mid-September.
Viewing Saturn with astronomy club or organization
Saturn will be within the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is in the southern sky. We recommend using a star/planet app to help you find the constellation and Saturn. We recommend SkyView Lite. See more on SkyView below.
If you do not have a star-finder phone app, around midnight, face south-southeast. Look about a third of the way up the sky. Saturn will only get to about 35 degrees high from the horizon. Saturn will be the brightest star in that location. Note that only a star twinkles. Plants do not. It might also be a golden-colored. Saturn will move higher and higher in the sky as the evening progresses. See our Super Blue Moon article on more instruction on how to do this manually.
The rings of Saturn are only visible in a telescope. It being so close, any small telescope will do. The stronger the telescope, the better the view. If you have never seen the rings before. It is spectacular. Over the next four years, the rings will appear thinner and thinner as Saturn reaches “autumn” in 2025. This is because we will be viewing the ring as a side view in 2025.
After August 27, 2023, the next few “oppositions” will be:
In addition, the same day as the Blue Supermoon on August 31st, Saturn will be very near this Supermoon. Saturn and the Moon will also look great together on Sept. 26, 2023. Make sure to see our article on the Super Blue Moon and Moon video.
SkyView is a great phone and tablet app that is easy to use while stargazing. It is available for Android and iOS. There are free and paid-for versions of the app. For the purpose of finding Saturn, the free version is just fine.
What is great about the app is it allows you to augment the sky as you scan the sky with your phone. It will show the name of the objects and outline the constellations in an understandable view. You can even track the Space Station. Even it is in the Southern Hemisphere. Just scan the ground.
On Sunday, Open SkyView. You should now see how it augments the sky. It is like it is overlaying it with a template. Point your phone or tablet to the southern sky and look for Saturn and the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer to come up on the screen.
SkyView Screenshot augmenting the sky constellation with Aquarius the Water Bearer and Saturn. Notice the Space Station at his feet.Photo byColorado Martini Publishing LLC / Epic Earth YouTube Video / SkyView App
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