How Much Do We All Love Saturn?

Astronomer Mark Thompson shares his passion for the ringed planet, exposing some of its most enduring mysteries.

Of all the planets in the Solar System, there are none as stunning nor intriguing as Saturn. It has been known for thousands of years, though only with the invention of the telescope was its true nature revealed.

It’s an alien world that is easy to spot with the unaided eye and even with a basic telescope, Saturn’s true beauty is there to be enjoyed. April is a great month to take a look at the planet as it lies at opposition on April 12 — meaning it is opposite to the sun in the sky so is visible all night, rising as the sun sets and setting as the sun rises.

It only takes a magnification of around 20 to 25 times for the rings to become visible, so even a small bird-spotting telescope will resolve them, but a larger telescope is needed to see the gaps in the rings or the belts around the planet.

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    Take an opportunity to see Saturn while it’s still easy to see in the night sky! Just saying, the king of the Titans is...
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    Saturn is the best planet. Forever.
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