Topline<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve never looked at Saturn and its rings through a telescope, this weekend brings the perfect opportunity. On Sunday, Sept. 21, the sixth planet reaches its annual opposition, when Earth gets between it and the sun. It puts Saturn at its biggest, brightest and best in the night sky. It comes on the same day as a new moon, which causes a deep partial solar eclipse<\/a> in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n On June 25, 2023, NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope turned to famed ringed world Saturn for its first near-infrared observations of the planet.<\/p>\n NASA, ESA, CSA, Matthew Tiscareno (SETI Institute), Matthew Hedman (University of Idaho), Maryame El Moutamid (Cornell University), Mark Showalter (SETI Institute), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Heidi Hammel (AURA)Key Facts<\/p>\n A planet\u2019s opposition occurs when Earth passes directly between the planet and the sun. That alignment puts Saturn closest to Earth and keeps it visible all night, rising in the east around sunset and setting in the west around sunrise. <\/p>\n At magnitude 0.6, Saturn will be shining brighter than at any other time this year, though it never gets as bright as either Venus or Jupiter. <\/p>\n To the naked eye, Saturn will be a steady, golden point of light that won\u2019t twinkle, as stars do. <\/p>\n Even a small telescope will reveal its rings, though they are tilted almost edge-on in 2025, making them appear much narrower than usual. <\/p>\n A new moon this weekend will mean dark moonless night skies ideal for stargazing, if skies are clear, with the bonus of a major planet visible all night long. Venus and Jupiter will be visible a few hours before sunrise.<\/p>\n These Hubble Space Telescope images, captured from 1996 to 2000, show Saturn”s rings open up from just past edge-on to nearly fully open as it moves from autumn towards winter in its Northern Hemisphere, part of the course of its 29-year journey around the Sun. (Photo courtesy of NASA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty ImagesWhy Saturn\u2019s Rings Appear Closed<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Saturn\u2019s rings appeared to vanish. It\u2019a a line of sight phenomenon \u2014 Earth\u2019s view of the planet waxes and wanes as Saturn orbits the sun every 29 years. Saturn\u2019s 26.7-degree tilt means that the rings appear to open and close, as seen from Earth. The view is currently si-on, but from here they will widen and become brighter and more visible through 2032. <\/p>\n Saturn\u2019s rings are temporary, but only in deep time. In about 100 million years, they\u2019ll be pulled into Saturn by its gravity, according to NASA<\/a>. <\/p>\n Saturn\u2019s Opposition Concides With Solar Eclipse<\/p>\n On Monday, Sept. 22, with Saturn at opposition, a deep partial solar eclipse will occur. Caused by the new moon at 2:54 p.m. EDT, it will obscure up to 86% of the sun as see (only) from Antarctica, New Zealand and the western South Pacific islands. It will be underway at sunrise, causing dramatic views if skies are clear. <\/p>\n Further ReadingForbesThe Night Sky In September 2025: Two Eclipses, Labor Day Aurora And SaturnBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesHow To Finally See The \u2018Planet Parade\u2019 This WeekendBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesWhy Saturday\u2019s \u2018Black Moon\u2019 Sets Up A \u2018Blood Moon\u2019 And Three Solar EclipsesBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesYour Complete Guide To The Dramatic Solar Eclipse This WeekendBy Jamie Carter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline If you\u2019ve never looked at Saturn and its rings through a telescope, this weekend brings the perfect…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,797,49304,81372,81373,81375,81376,81374,66,308,6299,81377],"class_list":["post-154428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-planets","tag-saturn","tag-saturn-opposition","tag-saturn-opposition-2025","tag-saturn-rings","tag-saturn-telescope","tag-saturn-when-to-see","tag-science","tag-solar-system","tag-stargazing","tag-when-to-see-saturn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}