Saturn is currently in a great spot for skywatchers: close to Earth (relatively speaking) while directly opposite the Sun in our night sky. Though the full Moon may get in the way, a good telescope should still be enough to zoom in on the gas giant:
Saturn will have one of its best viewing opportunities of the year in the period surrounding Sunday, Aug. 14. Or it would, if the nearly Full Moon doesn’t spoil our fun.
An illustration of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn, where it documented the ringed planet in 2017. And despite the light-clutter from the Moon, all may not be lost. The rings of Saturn will face Earth at a 13-degree angle to our line of sight. And though Saturn is much farther from the Sun than our planet – an average 886 million miles out, compared to 94.4 million for Earth – a unique phenomenon may lend it even greater brightness during opposition.