The best time to see the planet Saturn is here. April and May 2012 are when this golden world – planet of the rings – is easiest to spot and brightest. 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 long – or nearly all night long – on April and May nights. Likewise, April or May of 2012 will also be the best time to see the ringed planet Saturn in all its glory.
In 2012, you can follow the curve in the handle of the famous Big Dipper asterism to find the planet Saturn.
Saturn in April 2012
Follow the arc to Artusus to identify Saturn in 2012
Drive a spike to Spica – and Saturn – in 2012
On April 15, 2012, Earth will pass between Saturn and the sun. That is why Saturn is at its best this year in April and May. In mid-April, Saturn will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west. Why? Because that is when Earth is passing between Saturn and the sun, and Saturn is opposite the sun as seen from Earth.
Saturn closest, brightest, opposite the sun on April 15
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 appearing 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 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 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 in 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 and 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 in 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 its 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 the rings.
Bottom line: 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!
SATURN is saint. This planet gives a good madness but also gives some sorrow and selfishness. I have seen in others life. DR. ABHIJIT GHOSE
The change of Planet Saturn from sign VIRGO to BALANCE on 21 December 2011 gives
lot of changes in each Horescope of humain in the World;The position Balance for the
planet is in exaltation fully best place and the saturn reduces the bad things for all the
persons of the world.When the position of exaltation of saturn explain that the planet is
really to maximum distance from the earth and the emotions of influences of bad things
reduces, and favour things increases in chances, long life, business developments,
agriculture increases,industries developes,
The saturn gives full power and no other planet destroy the rajayogam in each
horescopes up to November 2014. If the horescope basic dasa in mouvements with
sub periods of venus, or mercury of each persons will get more and more favours of the
saturn for their bright future. And all the things will happend after 26 Mars 2012constantly
starting throuout life periods up to 2014.
Mr RAMON Rochambeau PARIS
DEAR FRIEND, MR RAMON. R U AN ASTROLOGER????
thats amazing!!! i absolutly love astronomy and or astrology!!!!i really enjoy this information thank you!!! :)
its very nice and excellent
We learn how to obsesve star inthe sky in the night. My zodiac sign is acqiires and the acquires main planet is saturn. i will observe saturn inthe sky thank u
Thank you for the information presented on this site! Last night I was able to take some great shots of Mars & it’s two moons to add to my night photography collection (which includes hundreds of shots of Jupiter and the four Gallealan moons.)
By the way, you don’t need fancy equipiment to capture these images- I get nice results from a Kodak Z981, with it’s 26X power optical zoom. For less than $300 you could buy the camera and a tripod, check the location of your target planet, and take amazing photos! A note: Make sure your camera is set to manual mode- for Jupiter, f5, ISO 200, and shutter speed of .6 to .8 of a second yields good results. Mars required a two second exposure, which has the downside of giving the planet an oblong shape and the moons a streaky look due to Earths rotation.
Next: SATURN!!!
Hi David, any site that i can view your planet photos using your Z981?
very nice
viewing saturn is possible only this year 2012?
Oh no. Saturn can be seen for part of every year!
Phongnyei,
No, you can observe Saturn every year.
Bruce
wow thats kool…bt if u guys can fore-tell weather condition and point appropriate month for clear sight..ty!
@phongmei: dude, the article consists almost only of hints and best time of each year to best find it, might also try reading it. Weather condition can’t be forecasted in advance throughout all the year, so check a forecast service for that…
Next you’ll want people to grab your head, point it to some light in the sky and yell at you: “that’s saturn!” :-/
Lmao @ harsons reply
@harson: LOL
[...] Give me 5 minutes, and I’ll give you Saturn in 2012 [...]
thats amazing.i will be eager to see it.
i see it tonight yehey i see saturn ill excited becuse my favorite planet is saturn
Saturn- matteriideal, tur the first time phiosophy matteridealisme! Terre- matterioedialisme. Persom- matteridealisme!
saw saturn lastnight for the first time and its rings it was amazing.
[...] Give me 5 minutes, and I’ll give you Saturn in 2012 Before going to bed on Saturday, March 10, look for the moon and Saturn in the eastern sky [...]
ALLAH ki es qurat ko dekh ker apny YAQEEN,mein AZAFA krein keh ALLAH hai ur wo es kaeenat ko WACH ker raha hai,SUBHANALLAH,KOI NAHEIN MASWAEY US allah ke jis nein es kaeenat ko taqweem mein bnaya,
God is great.
Oh! You did suprised, I did, too.You I had seen Mars and other inner planets and constellation at school.It was really cool!
in saturn there are 62 moon this is very strange .this quality of saturn makes different from other.
amazing!… the best invention which inspires, the young generation.. as we go beyond our learning::) great!!
amazing invention it really inspires the young generation!! to be dynamic… great! good job!!..
GOOD EFFERT
I am a retired (R) commodore (means Cnl) of the Argentine Air Force. Used to fly Sabre F-86F and I loved night fly at 10.000 feet… ¡what a sky! We have in San Juan and Mendoza,
states of Argentina by the Cordillera de Los Andes, clear nights because the weather is
dry. When days were clear, at that level we saw the Pacific Ocean, a little less than 200
kilometros to the West. It is usual to see, at night, The Southern Cross (la Cruz del Sur), a jewel of our sky. The Proxima Star is at about 4 light years of Earth and I am sure
that many, many, many, years ahead perhaps some human crew could visit that far,far,far
away place. The human curiosity is highly pushing our spirit. Sorry my English.
Sincerely, Luis R. Tello Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
I got many information.It is a nice day to see the inner planet.You know, if my science teacher knows, he will be proud and excited to see the planet.I can’t wait to tell him.
If one ponders on on the movement of planets in well organized manner he/she must have an idea that a powerful and mighty one (sender of prophets : Nuh, Abhaaheem, Mosa, jesus and Muhammad (SAW) alongwith others) is there to follow who sent decrres through his prophets. thanks to all those who try to follow the factual path. wish you good luck.
[...] brightest star in the constellation Virgo. The other bright light is no star at all but the planet Saturn. The first full moon to follow the March equinox faithfully shines in front of Virgo, the harvest [...]
[...] brightest star in the constellation Virgo. The other bright light is no star at all but the planet Saturn. The first full moon to follow the March equinox faithfully shines in front of Virgo, the harvest [...]
Vou adorar ver Saturno. è o meu sonho!!!
[...] http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/give-me-five-minutes-ill-give-you-saturn [...]
[...] (Earthsky.org) The best time to see the planet Saturn is here. April and May 2012 are when this golden world – planet of the rings – is easiest to spot and brightest. 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 long – or nearly all night long – on April and May nights. Likewise, April or May of 2012 will also be the best time to see the ringed planet Saturn in all its glory. [...]
[...] the heat and ‘little blood-sucking friends’ Mr.Mossie! But it was worth it. The Opposition of Saturn will be on the 15th of April. Which means Mr. Gas planet no.2 will be closest to Earth [...]
I saw Saturn tonite and that was very cool!