Most of us view Earth as the prettiest planet in our solar system. Look at any photo taken of it from deep space, and it’s the lovely blue marble of our solar system! Many people, including this stargazer, put Saturn in second place in our solar system and, indeed, the best planet to gaze upon from here on Earth, even with a small telescope. Jupiter is great, but I so look forward to training my telescope on the ringed wonder of our solar system. Other planets like Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus have ring systems, but nothing beats the ring system surrounding Saturn, the second-largest planet in our local family.
Saturn has become prime time for viewing this month and will be available in our evening skies through next January. It reached its very closest approach to the Earth last Sunday, Aug. 27, when it was less than 815 million miles away, which is considered close for Saturn. This closest approach is something astronomers call opposition when Earth, in its yearly orbit around the sun, and Saturn, in its 29-year orbit around our home star, line up so that the Earth lies roughly in a line between the sun and Saturn. This happens about once a year, 378 days to be precise. Another benefit of opposition besides the relative proximity is that the ringed wonder occupies our celestial dome all night long, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.
Saturn is certainly easy to locate in the early evening sky. Just as evening twilight winds down, look in the east-southeast sky for the brightest star-like you can see. Saturn is located this year in the faint constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer.
I absolutely love showing people Saturn through my telescopes at my star gazing parties and programs. I just stand back and wait for the oohs and ahs, especially from the kids. I’m fortunate to be able to bring some pretty big scopes at my star parties, but the great thing about Saturn is that you don’t need that big of a telescope to enjoy it. With even a smaller scope, you can get a nice view of Saturn and its ring system. If you can’t resolve Saturn’s ring system through your scope, there’s probably something wrong with it. Even with the best telescopes, there are essential things you need to do to ensure maximum viewing enjoyment. First, ensure your telescope and all the eyepieces sit outside for at least a half hour so the optics can acclimate to the outside temperature. Secondly, I would also wait to view Saturn until after it’s had a chance to rise high enough in the sky so you don’t have to look through as much of our Earth’s blurring atmosphere. After about 11 p.m. should do the trick. Thirdly, try to take long, continuous looks through your telescope at Saturn and its moon. You’ll see more detail as your eye gets used to the light level within the eyepiece.
Saturn has a diameter of 75,000 miles, but the ring system has a diameter of over 150,000 miles, more than half the distance between the Earth and our moon. Even though the ring system is that wide, it’s only about 50 feet thick in most spots. Because of the inclination of Saturn’s polar axis to its solar orbit, the tilt of its ring system, from our perspective, goes through a 28-year cycle. In 2009, the ring system was on edge from our view on Earth and nearly invisible. Unfortunately it’s starting to close again. In 2025, the ring system will appear on edge. It’s still plenty visible this year although not as much as in past years. Saturn’s rings are composed of billions of tiny bits of ice, anywhere in size from crystals to minivans but most of it is very minute. Saturn’s rings show up so well because the ice is so reflective of sunlight.
At last count, Saturn has over 60 moons with the largest one, Titan, larger than the planet Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. Titan has a heavy methane atmosphere and even has methane lakes. As fascinating as Titan is, the small moon Enceladus has really grabbed some astronomical headlines as the late-great Cassini spacecraft photographed water plumes shooting from cracks in the moon’s surface. Enceladus may have a lake that’s maybe larger than Lake Superior. Most telescopes will reveal at least some of Saturn’s moons resembling tiny stars swarming Saturn, with Titan being decidedly brighter than the rest.
Have a splendid Saturn autumn!
Celestial happening this week
After around 10:30 p.m. look for the very bright planet Jupiter to the lower left of the waning full moon. Jupiter will make its closest approach to Earth in early November.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
