The present position of Saturn

[Joe G]

Hi

I’ve been looking at the planets lately and Jupiter is nicely positioned for good viewing sessions over the next few months but Saturn seems to be disappearing out of view more quickly. I’m wondering if Saturn will always still be visible in the nighttime sky in the Northern Hemisphere over the next few years . Hopefully someone out there can reassure me & any replies would be appreciated

thanks Joe 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Saturn will always be visible from most of the Northern hemisphere.  If you have a planetarium app you can see for yourself.

[Zermelo]

The maximum altitude depends on the constellation that the planet is in, and where you're observing from.  The outer planets move quite slowly through the zodiac, so their visibility is quite seasonal.  Saturn hasn't been well placed recently for us, moving through constellations that are low down. But it is getting better.

There are some good answers here:

 

[Joe G]

Hi folks 

thanks for the replies. It’s also good to see that Saturn is also going to rise higher in the sky as time goes by 

Joe

[Owmuchonomy]

As above, however, the rings are 'closing'.  This means that as seen from our vantage point the rings will appear more edge on.  This is particularly so next year.  After that things will gradually improve again so that the rings can be seen in all their splendour.

[CentaurZ]

Here's my chart depicting the changing position of Saturn on the celestial sphere:

[CentaurZ]

And here is my chart depicting the changing tilt of Saturn's rings:

[Paz]

Winter 2030, 2031, and 2032 look good, the rings will be on maximum view and Sarurn will be well over 50 degrees up.

...that gives us 7 years to sort the rubbish weather out.

[Zermelo]

It may never happen :

Saturn's rings will DISAPPEAR in 2025, NASA confirms https://mol.im/a/12714869

[CentaurZ]

23 hours ago, Zermelo said:

It may never happen :

Saturn's rings will DISAPPEAR in 2025, NASA confirms https://mol.im/a/12714869

I fail to see why NASA had to confirm. Astronomers have been able to predict this for centuries. The NASA/JPL executive who oversees public relations for their Saturn projects has on her office wall a copy of my 30 depictions of Saturn's rings as seen in my post above. She asked for my permission about a dozen years ago.

[CentaurZ]

Despite all the recent hoopla regarding the edge-on event on 2025 MAR 23, Saturn will be in the predawn eastern sky only 10˚ west of the Sun., making it difficult to observe.

My 2039 APR 02 image below is for the central edge-on event during that apparition. Due to apparent retrograde motion, 2038 OCT 15 and 2039 JUL 09 will also be edge-on dates. 

[johnturley]

I understand that in 2025 there will only be a single passage of the earth through the ring plane, unlike 1966, 1979-80, and 1995 when there was a triple passage. In addition unlike some previous apparitions, I don't think that there will be an observable period when the unilluminated side of the rings will be tilted towards the earth, which appears as a dark band across Saturn's disc, and Saturn appears ring less. 

[GasGiant]

I saw Saturn for the first time ever ( Live) last night. It was only tiny but hey, I saw it 🙂 However, it soon disappeared 😞  I would love to see more. 

Jupiter and its moons were FAB last night.  

[MartianHill]

Hello @Joe G

If you download “Stellarium” it will show you where the planets are for any date/time, plus other night sky objects too.