{"id":773147,"date":"2026-07-01T11:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T11:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773147\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T11:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T11:10:15","slug":"saturn-returns-how-to-see-the-ringed-planet-in-july-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773147\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturn returns! How to see the ringed planet in July 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Summer 2026 is a tricky time for the planets, as those that are emerging from the Sun\u2019s glare in the morning sky \u2013 let\u2019s face it, most of them \u2013 are having to struggle against a shallow ecliptic angle with the horizon at dawn and less than dark skies.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, Saturn manages to improve noticeably throughout July 2026, reaching a position where it can be seen at an altitude of 30\u00b0 in a relatively dark sky at the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p>Key dates for Saturn in July<\/p>\n<p>Things aren\u2019t so favourable at the start of July, the mag. +0.7 Saturn barely visible under brightening twilight above the eastern horizon around 02:30 BST (01:30 UT).<\/p>\n<p>At this time Saturn\u2019s famous rings are tilted at \u20139.0\u00b0, the negative sign indicating that it\u2019s the planet\u2019s southern hemisphere that\u2019s tilted towards Earth.<\/p>\n<p>This tilt is maintained throughout the month, giving a reasonable view of the rings \u2013 certainly much clearer than they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/saturn-ring-plane-crossing\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">at the end of 2025, when they appeared almost edge-on<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The last quarter Moon pays Saturn a visit on the mornings of 7 and 8 July, potentially helping with the identification of the planet.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"692\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/saturn-moon-july-2026.jpg\" alt=\"Chart showing Saturn close to the Moon at the start of July 2026. Credit: Pete Lawrence\" class=\"wp-image-189882\"\/>Chart showing Saturn close to the Moon at the start of July 2026. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/p>\n<p>Mid-month, Saturn rises just after midnight BST, creeping slowly up to an altitude of 23\u00b0 under twilight conditions at around 03:00 BST (02:00 UT).<\/p>\n<p>As ever with the planets and especially the case with Saturn, the higher the altitude above the horizon, the more stable the view typically is.<\/p>\n<p>This is because low down you\u2019re looking through a thicker layer of atmosphere and all the wobbles therein are effectively multiplied as a consequence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the month, Saturn will have brightened slightly to mag. +0.6 and is able to reach its best position for the month, heralding the start of a good observational window for the planet over the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>Saturn in July 2026 \u2013\u00a0at a glance<\/p>\n<p>Best time to see: 31 July, 03:00 BST (02:00 UT)<br \/>\nAltitude: 30\u00b0<br \/>\nLocation: Pisces<br \/>\nDirection: Southeast<br \/>\nFeatures: Rings, banded atmosphere, brighter moons<br \/>\nRecommended equipment: 75mm or larger<\/p>\n<p>Share your observations and images of Saturn with us by emailing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/news\/mailto:contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summer 2026 is a tricky time for the planets, as those that are emerging from the Sun\u2019s glare&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":["post-773147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773147","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=773147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}