The planet Saturn is relatively easy to find in 2012, because it’s near a bright star, Spica in the constellation Virgo. This star always returns to the early evening sky in April – spring for the Northern Hemisphere, autumn for the Southern Hemisphere. Spica stays out all night – or nearly all night long – on April and May nights. Likewise, April or May of 2012 will also be the best time this year to see the ringed planet Saturn in all its glory. But you can see it tonight, too.

Saturn in February-March 2012

In early February 2012, Saturn and Spica are rising around midnight for all of us on Earth. They reach their high point in the sky an hour or so before morning dawn. If you’re an early morning person, before dawn the early months of 2012 should be just fine for viewing Saturn with the unaided eye or the telescope. Even a modest, backyard telescope will enable you to see Saturn’s glorious rings.

You can also try to glimpse Saturn on nights when it’s near the moon. The chart shown here, and links below, show you Saturn’s closest passage to the moon for months in February 11, 2012. But look on either side of that date, too. In fact, watching the moon sweep past Saturn for several nights in a row – in each of the next several months – will give you the opportunity to experience the moon’s own motion in orbit.

The moon, Saturn and Spica are in the east by late evening on February 11, 2012

Moon, Saturn, Spica rise in late evening February 11

Saturn and Spica near moon March 10. Rising earlier!

As a ballpark guide, look for Saturn (and Spica) to rise about two hours earlier with every successive month. Saturn rises around 12 midnight in early February, around 10 p.m. in early March and around 8 p.m. in early April – these times are approximately true as seen from all parts of Earth. So Saturn will be coming into easier view, with each passing month, in early 2012.

By the time mid-April 2012 comes, Saturn will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west. Why? Because that is when Saturn will be opposite the sun as seen from Earth.

Opposition of Saturn on April 15, 2012

Our Earth in its smaller, faster orbit around the sun is gaining on Saturn as we speak. We fly through space at some 107,000 kilometers per hour (67,000 miles per hour), in contrast to Saturn’s 35,000 kilometers per hour (22,000 miles per hour). So naturally there will come a time when Earth passes between Saturn and the sun.

We do this every year, and, at such a time, we always see Saturn opposite the sun in our sky – rising in the east when the sun is setting in the west. Our passage between Saturn and the sun is called an opposition of Saturn.

Via theakumalian.com

Why is the time around opposition the best time of year to see Saturn? Every year, around the time we go between the sun and Saturn, the ringed planet is at its closest to Earth and brightest in our sky. Saturn is the faintest of the bright planets. It’s still pretty bright, but, normally, you wouldn’t pick it out from among the stars. But around April or May of 2012 you can, because Saturn appears about as bright as the brightest stars.

Because we’ll be passing Saturn – the sixth planet outward from the sun – from an inside track around the sun, the ringed planet will actually look as if it’s going backward (retrograde) in front of the fixed stars of the constellation Virgo from February 8, 2012 until June 26, 2012.

This apparent westward (retrograde) movement of Saturn is really an illusion. If you were in a race car passing another race car from the inside track, you might glimpse the other car to appear to be going backwards for a time relative to background objects. It’s not really going backwards, of course. It only looks that way. In the same way, Saturn normally moves toward the east in front of the stars, but this outer planet appears to be going in westward against the background stars for a few months every year, around the time of its opposition.

By the way, Saturn’s yearly opposition happens about two weeks later with each passing year. The 2009 opposition was on March 8. The 2010 opposition was on March 21. The 2011 opposition was on April 3. The 2012 opposition is April 15. And the 2013 opposition will be on April 28.

Saturn basics

Earth travels around the sun once a year, while Saturn takes about 29-and-a-half years to orbit the sun once. Earth’s orbit is smaller, and we move faster than this outer planet. So once a year, we pass between Saturn and the sun and gain another lap on the planet.

Golden Saturn as seen by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1980

Click here to expand image above

You might realize from what I just said that Saturn is relatively slow-moving in orbit and, therefore, slow to change its position against the background stars. That’s why the early stargazers called it “the oldest of the old sheep.”

Like all planets, Saturn is lovely to gaze upon. Its golden color is fascinatingly reminiscent of wonderful spacecraft photos of Saturn. It’s a real place, after all, not just a light in the sky. Plus, Saturn’s brightness waxes and wanes in a subtle way throughout every year, making it fun to watch.

Can you see the rings of Saturn if you look with the eye alone? No, you need a small telescope to see the rings. But, to the unaided eye, Saturn will appear as a bright golden “star” … very beautiful. And unlike the twinkling stars, Saturn will shine with a steady light. That might help you identify it.

I want you to see Saturn at its best in April and May 2012.

On April 15, 2012, the Earth in its orbit will pass in between Saturn and the sun, at which time Saturn will appear opposite the sun in our sky. So, in April and May 2012, if you’re looking for Saturn during the evening hours, you should be facing east to southeast at nightfall and south around middle to late evening.

On any night of 2012 – because the planet Saturn stays close to the star Spica throughout 2012 – you can rely on the Big Dipper to guide you to Spica and Saturn. In other words, you can follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike to Spica from the handle of the Big Dipper. Once you identify Spica, notice the bright golden starlike object nearby. That’ll be Saturn. Saturn and Spica’s orientation with respect to the horizon will change throughout the year, and they are different between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. But Saturn and Spica remain close during 2012. Two bright objects in the sky, near each other, might be them!

Saturn eclipsing the sun, as seen by Cassini spacecraft in 2006. More about this image. Credit: CICLOPS, JPL, ESA, NASA

How can you see Saturn in June-July of 2012?

After April 15 – when Earth goes between Saturn and the sun – Earth will be fleeing ahead of Saturn in the race of the planets around the sun. That means, for one thing, that Saturn will begin appearing fainter because the distance between our two worlds will be increasing.

Also, Earth’s motion in orbit will mean that when the sun sets, Saturn will be higher above the horizon. So this planet will still be prominent in May, June and July of 2012. It’ll appear the southeast as soon as the sun goes down in late May. At nightfall in June, Saturn appears in the south, and after sunset in July, look for Saturn in the southwest sky.

How about the rest of 2012?

Saturn will remain somewhere in our sky – as it always does – for most of 2012. But it will become fainter and less noticeable. As Earth moves in orbit, we’ll see Saturn shift its location in our sky and fade in brightness. Each night at sunset, Saturn will appear farther to the west in our sky. Finally, in late September or October of 2012, Saturn will disappear in the western twilight after sunset.

One last thing, for you telescope users, from February 11, 1996, to September 4, 2009, the south side of Saturn’s rings were facing in Earth’s direction. Since then, we’ve been looking at the north side of Saturn’s rings.

Bottom line: In February 2012, you’ll find Saturn rising around midnight and highest in the sky in the hours before dawn. The best months for viewing Saturn in 2012 will be April and May. Then it will be at its brightest and in the sky all night, or nearly so. Saturn is noticeable throughout 2012 because it’s near a bright star, Spica in the constellation Virgo. Enjoy!