Saturn reached its point of opposition with the sun in Earth’s sky today, Sunday. The planet’s disk is illuminated by 100% sunlight and has a diameter of 19.0 arcseconds. Its apparent size is (+0.4). Saturn appears 39% larger and 1.7 times brighter, and at the same time, it is at our closest distance.
The head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, Engineer Majed Abu Zahra, reported that the opposition represents the middle of the best time of the year to view Saturn and its moons. This is because Earth is about 300 million kilometers closer to the planet, as both are on the same side of the Sun, compared to when the planet is in solar conjunction. However, even when Saturn is at its closest point to Earth, it is still distant, at a distance of 1,278,568,122 kilometers.
Saturn Through Telescope
Abu Zahra pointed out that when observing Saturn through a medium-sized telescope, the beautiful view of the planet’s rings will not be visible because they are currently tilted only 3.7 degrees relative to us, making them appear very narrow compared to previous years when they were at a wider tilt angle.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the farthest one visible to the naked eye. It has many rings made of small ice particles and 62 moons, 53 of which are named. Of these, 13 moons have diameters greater than 50 kilometers. Saturn is a stunning sight when viewed through a telescope.
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