Planets
THIS MONTH’S PLANETS
The ringed gas giant will be gracing the evening skies for astronomers
PLANET OF THE MONTH
Even though it’s quite faint and never gets very high in the sky, Saturn, the famous Ringed E Planet, is still well placed for observation this month. Although it’s much fainter than Venus or Jupiter, which are both also on view this month, Saturn is still lovely to look at. To your naked eye the second-largest planet in our Solar System will look like a gold-hued star, already low in the southeast as the Sun sets.
Shining at a very respectable magnitude of +0.5, Saturn will be an easy naked eye object, brighter than most of the stars in the sky. However, its low altitude means it will appear fainter than that figure suggests. The planet is currently in the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius, away from the frothy and distracting star clouds of the Milky Way, so there is good contrast between it and the sky behind it, making it easy to see through these longer and brighter summer nights.