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Earth will fly between the sun and Saturn on September 8, 2024, placing the ringed planet opposite the sun – at opposition – in our sky. Saturn at opposition marks the middle of the best time of year to see the planet. Plus, in 2024, Saturn’s opposition also heralds a ring plane crossing – during which Saturn’s rings will appear edge-on from Earth – due in March 2025. Join the EarthSky team, and special guest Pranvera Hyseni, as we discuss Saturn’s opposition and ring plane crossing LIVE beginning at 12:15 p.m. CDT (17:15 UTC) on Monday, September 2. Click in for a “notify me” button.

Saturn at opposition

When and where to watch in 2024: Around its September 8 opposition, Saturn is rising in the east at sunset and is visible all night. Afterward, for the rest of 2024, Saturn will remain visible in the evening sky. It’ll finally disappear in the sunset glare in February 2025.
Date and time of opposition: 5 UTC on September 8, 2024 (12 a.m. CDT).
Brightness at opposition: At opposition, the ringed planet shines at its brightest for 2024 at magnitude 0.6.
Distance from Earth at opposition: Around opposition, Saturn is at its shortest distance from Earth for 2024, at 72 light-minutes (about 8.66 astronomical units).
Constellation at opposition: Aquarius the Water Bearer.
Disk size at opposition: Saturn’s disk size is largest around opposition. At its largest, Saturn will appear 19.2 arcseconds across.
Ring tilt at opposition: At opposition, Saturn’s rings are tilted by 3.3 degrees, relative to earthly viewers. That’s very narrow. Saturn’s rings are nearly edge-on from Earth. In March 2025, when we cross the plane of Saturn’s rings, they will temporarily seem to disappear!

Read more: Saturn’s rings are disappearing!

Simple diagram of orbits, showing Earth between an outer planet and the sun.
Opposition happens when Earth flies between an outer planet, like Saturn, and the sun. Illustration via Heavens-Above. Used with permission.

Around opposition is the best time to see Saturn

Opposition marks the middle of the best time of the year to see an outer planet. Even though you can’t see Saturn’s rings through binoculars, it’ll appear through binoculars as a bright oval-shaped disk. But any small backyard telescope will show the rings.

Saturn through a telescope shown as a grayish oval with the rings almost edge-on.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Wo Wehali in Atlanta, Georgia, captured this image on June 8, 2024, and wrote: “I set my clock to wake me before dawn and was greeted by a quietly rising Saturn in the southeast. The temperature was refreshingly cool and dry for June in the southeastern United States. Quiet and virtually still, except for a light breeze, it seemed as if I was the only living being awake on the planet. I had set up some of my gear the night before so I was off and running. According to my Starry Night software, Saturn will display the least amount of tilt this month before March 2025 as the planet will wobble throughout the rest of the year. Saturn will be very close to the sun in March and challenging to observe/image.” Thank you, Wo!
Saturn in September as a white dot.
In September 2024, Saturn will lie low in the east shortly after sunset and be visible all night until dawn. The best time to watch Saturn is around its opposition. Saturn is rising in the east at sunset and is visible all night. Afterward, for the rest of 2024, Saturn will remain visible in the evening sky. It’ll finally disappear in the sunset glare in February 2025. Chart via EarthSky.

For precise sun and Saturn rising times at your location:

Old Farmer’s Almanac (U.S. and Canada)
timeanddate.com (worldwide).
Stellarium-Web (online planetarium program)

Two images of Saturn showing apparent size between opposition and solar conjunction.
A comparison of the apparent size of Saturn at opposition (September 8, 2024) and when it was most distant from the Earth at solar conjunction (February 28, 2024). Image via Dominic Ford/ In-The-Sky.org. Used with permission.
Solid black circle against pale crescent with vertical black line, edge view of rings.
The Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017, obtained almost unbelievably stunning images of the planet. Here, a moon, Rhea, occults – or passes in front of – a crescent Saturn, with the rings (black line) seen edge on. Image via Cassini Imaging Team/ SSI/ ESA/ NASA-JPL. Used with permission. See more images of Saturn from Cassini.
Telescopic view of pastel banded Saturn with rings and and some of its moons.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sona Shahani Shukla in Delhi, India, captured this image of Saturn and some of its moons on August 14, 2023, and wrote: “This magnificent planet shining bright in the skies is a fortnight away from its annual opposition.” Thank you, Sona! Saturn at opposition happens in 2024 on September 8.

How often is Saturn at opposition?

As a matter of fact, Saturn comes to opposition nearly every earthly year. A year is the length of time Earth takes to travel once around the sun. But Saturn’s orbit around the sun takes 29.4 Earth years. So each year we have to travel slightly farther in orbit to catch up to, and pass, Saturn again. Thus Saturn oppositions are roughly 378 days apart and Saturn’s opposition comes about two weeks later each year.

2023 Saturn opposition: August 27
2024 Saturn opposition: September 8
2025 Saturn opposition: September 20
2026 Saturn opposition: October 4

View from above the solar system, September 2024

Circle with sun at center, planets around, and zodiac names on outer edge.
Heliocentric view of solar system, September 2024. Chart via Guy Ottewell’s 2024 Astronomical Calendar. Used with permission.

Saturn is a world of rings and moons

Saturn is the 6th planet outward from the sun. People in ancient times saw it as a golden “star” that moved among the fixed stars: a wanderer. That’s because, it wasn’t until astronomers began using telescopes in the 17th century when they saw its rings.

Then, in the 1950s, astronomers spoke of Saturn as having three rings. But spacecraft in the later part of the 20th century showed vastly more detail. In fact, they revealed that Saturn has thousands of thin, finely detailed rings made of tiny chunks of ice. Also, Saturn has at least 146 moons with confirmed orbits. Yet 83 of them don’t have names. Furthermore, only 13 of them have diameters larger than 30 miles (about 50 kilometers).

Certainly, Saturn is truly a wondrous world of rings and moons. Usually, it’s everyone’s favorite celestial object to gaze at through a small telescope. So if there’s a public astronomy night near you this month … go!

Large, tan banded Saturn with small Earth next to it and arrows indicating size.
Contrasting the size of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth. Image via Hubble Heritage. Used with permission.
Banded Saturn and its bright rings, 4 labeled moons and text annotations.
Saturn and its rings as seen by Hubble on September 12, 2021. Image via ESA/ NASA/ Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC)/ Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley)/ Alyssa Pagan (STScI)/ Hubblesite. Used with permission.

Saturn yearly changes

3 Saturns stacked with years labeled. Rings tilted flatter on top Saturn.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sona Shahani Shukla in New Delhi, India, captured these images of Saturn in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and wrote: “Here’s a compilation of images from each year showing the tilt of Saturn’s rings from our perspective.” Thank you, Sona! It’s true. At most, Saturn’s rings tilt nearly 27 degrees relative to the ecliptic, or Earth-sun plane. So that’s the widest possible tilt we see. But we see the rings’ tilt change a bit throughout every year. And they change dramatically over about a 15-year cycle. In 2024, at the September opposition, their tilt with respect to Earth will be 3.3 degrees. The rings will be edge on in 2025.
View of Saturn and its rings through a telescope.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Makrem Larnaout of Tunisia captured this image of Saturn on August 6, 2024, and wrote: “I’m excited to share a new image of Saturn, captured with 195 minutues of data using two different setups, under average seeing conditions.” Thank you, Sakrem!

Bottom line: Saturn’s 2024 opposition comes on September 8, when Earth will sweep between the sun and Saturn, placing the ringed planet opposite the sun in our sky. Saturn will be in an excellent place to observe from late August through early October.

Read more: What does opposition mean for an outer planet?

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The EarthSky team has a blast bringing you daily updates on your cosmos and world. We love your photos and welcome your news tips. Earth, Space, Sun, Human, Tonight. Since 1994.

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