Saturn at opposition

 



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As night falls in August 26, 2023, look ahead to brilliant golden Saturn simply above the southeastern horizon. Saturn’s opposition, once we fly between Saturn and the sun, is at 8 UTC on August 27 (3 a.m. CDT). So it’s in a beautiful place to see now, ascending within the east within the night, as seen from across the globe. Saturn at opposition is within the dim constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. As well as, you probably have a darkish sky, you may see the dim, however fairly constellation Capricornus the Sea-goat. It has the form of an arrowhead. Certainly, you may see them crossing the sky all night time, touring alongside the ecliptic, the identical path the sun travels throughout the day. Additionally, the intense star Fomalhaut is close by. Chart by way of John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.

Earth flies between the sun and Saturn on August 26-27, 2023, inserting the ringed planet reverse the sun – at opposition – in our sky.

When and the place to look at in 2023: Round its August 26-27 opposition, Saturn is rising within the east at sundown and is seen all night time. Afterward, for the remainder of 2023 Saturn will stay seen within the night sky. It’ll lastly disappear within the sundown glare by mid-February 2024.
Date and time of opposition: 8 UTC on August 27, 2023 (3 a.m. CDT).
Brightness at opposition: At opposition, the ringed planet shines at its brightest for 2023, at magnitude 0.4.
Distance from Earth at opposition: Round opposition, Saturn is at its shortest distance from Earth for 2023, at 73 light-minutes (about 8.8 astronomical units).
Constellation at opposition: Aquarius the Water Bearer.
Disk measurement at opposition: Saturn’s disk measurement is largest round opposition. At its largest, Saturn will seem 19 arcseconds throughout.
Ring tilt at opposition: At opposition, Saturn’s rings are tilted by 8.1 degrees, relative to earthly viewers. The rings will span 44.2 arcseconds.
Word: Opposition marks the center of the very best time of the 12 months to see an outer planet. Regardless that you may’t see Saturn’s rings via binoculars, it’ll seem via binoculars as a brilliant oval-shaped disk. However any small yard telescope will present the rings.

Diagram showing Earth between an outer planet and the sun. — Opposition occurs when Earth flies between an outer planet, like Saturn, and the sun. Illustration by way of Heavens-Above. Used with permission.

For exact sun and Saturn rising occasions at your location:

Old Farmer’s Almanac (U.S. and Canada)
timeanddate.com (worldwide).
Stellarium-Web (on-line planetarium program)

Comparison in size of Saturn at opposition in 2023 and at solar conjunction. — A comparability of the obvious measurement of Saturn at opposition (August 26-27, 2023) and when it was most distant from the Earth at solar conjunction (February 16, 2023). Picture by way of Dominic Ford/ In-the-Sky.org. Used with permission.

August 29 and 30 evenings: Moon close to Saturn

White dots for the moon, Saturn, Capricornus, plus a green ecliptic line. — On the evenings of August 29 and 30, 2023, the intense moon will go Saturn. The moon will probably be full on the in a single day of August 30-31, making it the 2nd full moon of August 2023. In reality, it’s a month-to-month blue moon – the 2nd full moon in a month – and a supermoon. It’s the closest (biggest) full supermoon in 2023. It could not look larger to the attention, but it surely’ll positive look brighter! The constellation of Capricornus the Sea-goat is close by. Chart by way of John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.

Telescopic view of Saturn and some of its moons. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sona Shahani of ShuklaDelhi, India, captured this picture of Saturn and a few of its moons on August 14, 2023, and wrote: “This magnificent planet shining brilliant within the skies is a fortnight away from its annual opposition.” Thanks, Sona!

How typically is Saturn at opposition?

As a matter of truth, Saturn involves opposition almost each earthly 12 months. A 12 months is the size of time Earth takes to journey as soon as across the sun. However Saturn’s orbit across the sun takes 29.4 Earth-years. So annually now we have to journey barely farther in orbit to catch as much as, and go, Saturn once more. Thus Saturn oppositions are roughly 378 days aside and Saturn’s opposition comes about two weeks later annually.

2022 Saturn opposition: August 14
2023 Saturn opposition: August 27
2024 Saturn opposition: September 8
2025 Saturn opposition: September 25

Saturn with small Earth next to it, Saturn with rings is 21 Earth diameters across. — Contrasting the scale of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth. Picture by way of Hubble Heritage. Used with permission.

Saturn occasions in 2022 and early 2023

February 16, 2023: Saturn in conjunction with the sun
June 17, 2023: Saturn enters retrograde motion
August 27, 2023: Saturn at opposition
November 4, 2023: Saturn ends retrograde movement

Banded Saturn and its bright rings, 4 labeled moons and text annotations. — Saturn and its rings as seen by Hubble on September 12, 2021. Picture by way of ESA/ NASA/ Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC)/ Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley)/ Alyssa Pagan (STScI)/ Hubblesite. Used with permission.

View from above the solar system, August 2023

Circle with sun at center, planets around, and zodiac names on outer edge. — View larger. | Heliocentric view of solar system, August 2023. Chart by way of Guy Ottewell.

Saturn is a world of rings and moons

Saturn is the sixth planet outward from the sun. Folks in historic occasions noticed it as a golden “star” that moved among the many fastened stars: a wanderer. That’s as a result of, it wasn’t till astronomers started utilizing telescopes within the seventeenth century once they noticed its rings.

Then, within the Fifties, astronomers spoke of Saturn as having three rings. However spacecraft within the later a part of the twentieth century confirmed vastly extra element. In reality, they revealed that Saturn has 1000’s of skinny, finely detailed rings product of tiny chunks of ice. Additionally, Saturn has at the very least 83 moons with confirmed orbits. But solely 63 of Saturn’s moons have names, with the opposite 20 moons ready affirmation. Moreover, solely 13 of them have diameters bigger than 30 miles (about 50 kilometers).

Actually, Saturn is really a wondrous world of rings and moons. Clearly, it’s everybody’s favourite celestial object to stare upon via a small telescope. So if there’s a public astronomy night time close to you this month … go!

Extra nice photos of Saturn

Solid black circle against pale crescent with vertical black line, edge view of rings. — The Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017, obtained virtually unbelievably gorgeous pictures of the planet. Right here, a moon, Rhea, occults – or passes in entrance of – a crescent Saturn, with the rings (black line) seen edge-on. Picture by way of Cassini Imaging Crew/ SSI/ ESA/ NASA-JPL. See more images of Saturn from Cassini. Used with permission.

3 Saturns stacked with years labeled. Rings tilted flatter at top. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sona Shahani Shukla in New Delhi, India, captured these pictures of Saturn in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and wrote: “Right here’s a compilation of pictures from annually displaying the lean of Saturn’s rings from our perspective.” Thanks, Sona! It’s true. At most, Saturn’s rings tilt almost 27 levels relative to the ecliptic, or Earth-sun aircraft. In order that’s the widest doable tilt we see. However we see the rings’ tilt change a bit all through yearly. And so they change dramatically over a couple of 15-year cycle. In 2023, on the August opposition, their tilt with respect to Earth will probably be 8.1 levels. The rings will probably be edge on in 2025.

Backside line: Saturn’s 2023 opposition comes on August 26-27, when Earth will sweep between the sun and Saturn, inserting the ringed planet reverse the sun in our sky. Saturn will probably be in a superb place to watch all through August, September and October 2023.

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Saturn’s opposition in 2023: Fun and easy things to see

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Bruce McClure

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In regards to the Writer:

Bruce McClure served as lead author for EarthSky’s standard Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. He is a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and crusing within the North Atlantic, the place he earned his celestial navigation certificates via the College of Ocean Crusing and Navigation. He additionally wrote and hosted public astronomy applications and planetarium applications in and round his house in upstate New York.

Deborah Byrd

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In regards to the Writer:

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio sequence in 1991 and based EarthSky.org in 1994. As we speak, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this web site. She has gained a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, together with having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she was the Training Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the biggest group {of professional} astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a drive for good on the earth and a significant software for the twenty first century. “Being an EarthSky editor is like internet hosting a giant world occasion for cool nature-lovers,” she says.

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Saturn at opposition – and brightest – on August 26-27

Saturn at opposition

For exact sun and Saturn rising occasions at your location: