03/21/2010 Saturn Reaches Opposition
The planet Saturn is at opposition on March 21st 2010.
That means Saturn is opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. At opposition, Saturn rises in the east at sunset and sets in the west at sunrise. This is when Saturn comes closest to Earth for all of 2010. As a result, it’s when Saturn shines most brilliantly in our sky.
If you had a bird’s-eye view of the solar system today, you’d see our planet Earth passing in between the sun and Saturn. You’d see the sun, Earth and Saturn lining up in space. Only the planets that orbit the sun beyond Earth’s orbit can ever reach opposition – or be opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. The inner planets – Mercury and Venus – can never be at opposition, because they orbit the sun inside Earth’s orbit.
All the planets farther from the sun reach opposition every time our swifter-moving planet sweeps between the sun and them. Saturn, the 6th planet outward from the sun, is the most distant world that’s easily visible to the unaided eye. The ringed planet returns to opposition about 2 weeks later every year.
So that’s Saturn at opposition tonight. Shining in the east at nightfall, Saturn looks like a respectably bright steady star. Saturn climbs upward throughout the night and ascends to its highest point at midnight. When it’s high in the sky, where Earth’s turbulent atmosphere thins out and settles down, telescope users can view Saturn’s glorious rings.
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