Saturn reaches opposition on June 15, 2017

Saturn is now at its best for the year and on June 15th opposition is reached. Currently located in Ophiuchus the planet is visible all night long, but with a declination of -22 degrees it's much better placed from southern and tropical locations. For example, Saturn reaches a maximum altitude of 78 degrees and is visible for over 13 hours from Sydney, Australia. Whereas from New York City, it climbs just 28 degrees high with a visibility period lasting 9 hours.

At opposition, Saturn shines at magnitude 0.0 and is located 9.043 AU (approx. 1,353 million kilometres or 841 million miles) from Earth. Of course, the spectacular rings are its most famous feature and even a small telescope will show them. They are currently wide open with a 26.5 degrees tilt. In October, the rings will be at their widest open, displaying a maximum inclination of 27 degrees. They are a breathtaking sight especially through medium and large aperture scopes. In addition, a handful of Saturn's moons are also visible. The largest and brightest is eighth magnitude Titan, which can be seen with binoculars. Small scopes also show others including Rhea, Tethys and Dione. At this time of year the moons are also brightest.

Saturn has an apparent diameter of 18.4 arc seconds and the rings span 42 arc seconds. It's co-ordinates on June 15th are:- R.A. = 17hr 35m 23s, Dec. = -21d 57h 41s.

Saturn's position on June 15, 2017 - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)