Cheap Thrill: Look to the Skies for Peak Visibility of Saturn

By Patch Editors Todd Richissin and Laura L. Thornton

Need a cheap date Friday night? Just head for somewhere dark, look to the skies, and you may see Saturn’s rings vividly for the first time since 2006.

To find Saturn, look to the southeast: "Saturn shines fairly high in the southeast by early evening, below [the stars] Arcturus and Spica," Sky and Telescope reported on its website. 

(To find Arcturus, look for the Big Dipper constellation. Then, follow the arc of its handle down to Arcturus: "Arc to Arcturus." See this diagram on EarthSky for a good visual explanation.)

And, you'll probably want to bring a basic telescope with you. "The smallest astronomical telescope should reveal the rings easily," Sky and Telescope advised. A telescope with a magnification power of 60x to 75x should do the trick.

Saturn, of course, is the most recognizable of the planets out there, its 3D-ish appearance making it, in the eyes of many, the jewel of the solar system.

NASA has some great photos and video of Saturn, but it’s the alignment of the planets and the sun that should make for a great live show—and a photo opportunity that won’t come around again for years. The reason: Saturn’s entire system will be backlit by the sun.

And if you do take pictures, know this: NASA will be taking your picture, too—sort of. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will be taking photos of Earth as it looks from Saturn.