![]() ![]() Saturn is the second-fastest spinner in the solar system after Jupiter. ©NASA, ESA, JPL, ISS, Cassini Imaging Team, Fernando Garcia Navarro How Long Is a Day and a Year? The moons Dione and Enceladus, which orbit Saturn outside the main rings, are also visible. The dark bands across the upper half of Saturn are shadows made by the rings. The rings are seen edge-on and appear as a thin blue line. This image was made from photos taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Previous solar conjunction: February 16, 2023 Next solar conjunction: February 28, 2024 The next time this happens will be in 2025. This coincides with an equinox on Saturn. Every 15 years or so, the rings are edge-on to us and appear super-thin. From Earth, the angle of the rings changes from year to year. The time from one Saturn opposition to the next is about 378 days, or just over one year.Ī small telescope is needed to see Saturn’s rings. At solar conjunction, the planet passes behind the Sun and disappears from view completely for a few weeks. It rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. It can be seen, at some point or another, on most nights.Īt opposition, when it lies directly opposite the Sun, Saturn is visible all night. Saturn is the farthest away of the naked-eye planets, which humans have been studying since long before the invention of the telescope. The width of the main rings is about 62,000 kilometers (39,000 miles), but the thickness is a mere 5 to 30 meters (15 to 100 feet).įind and track Saturn with our Interactive Night Sky Map Saturn’s rings consist mainly of small ice particles. It is 84 percent the size of Jupiter in terms of diameter but only 30 percent as big in terms of mass.Ĭompare the sizes and order of the planets Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant mostly made of hydrogen and helium. Saturn is the sixth planet from the center of the solar system. ©NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute A Brief Overview of Saturn The largest gap within Saturn’s main rings is called the Cassini Division. Business Date to Date (exclude holidays). ![]()
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