Editing Saturn (section)

== Observation ==
[[File:Saturn-27-03-04.jpeg|thumb|Amateur telescopic view of Saturn]]

Saturn is the most distant of the five planets easily visible to the naked eye from Earth, the other four being [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], [[Venus]], Mars, and Jupiter. (Uranus, and occasionally [[4 Vesta]], are visible to the naked eye in dark skies.) Saturn appears to the naked eye in the night sky as a bright, yellowish point of light. The mean [[apparent magnitude]] of Saturn is 0.46 with a standard deviation of 0.34.<ref name="Mallama_and_Hilton" /> Most of the magnitude variation is due to the inclination of the ring system relative to the Sun and Earth. The brightest magnitude, −0.55, occurs near the time when the plane of the rings is inclined most highly, and the faintest magnitude, 1.17, occurs around the time when they are least inclined.<ref name="Mallama_and_Hilton" /> It takes approximately 29.4&nbsp;years for the planet to complete an entire circuit of the [[ecliptic]] against the background constellations of the [[zodiac]]. Most people will require an optical aid (very large binoculars or a small telescope) that magnifies at least 30 times to achieve an image of Saturn's rings in which a clear resolution is present.<ref name="NMM Saturn" /><ref name="binoculars" /> When Earth passes through the ring plane, which occurs twice every Saturnian year (roughly every 15 Earth years), the rings briefly disappear from view because they are so thin. Such a "disappearance" will next occur in 2025, but Saturn will be too close to the Sun for observations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.classicalastronomy.com/news/anmviewer.asp?a=313&z=28 |title=Saturn's Rings Edge-On |date=2013 |publisher=Classical Astronomy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105231722/http://www.classicalastronomy.com/news/anmviewer.asp?a=313&z=28 |archive-date=5 November 2013 |access-date=4 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Saturn and its rings are best seen when the planet is at, or near, [[opposition (astronomy)|opposition]], the configuration of a planet when it is at an [[Elongation (astronomy)|elongation]] of 180°, and thus appears opposite the Sun in the sky. A Saturnian opposition occurs every year—approximately every 378 days—and results in the planet appearing at its brightest. Both the Earth and Saturn orbit the Sun on eccentric orbits, which means their distances from the Sun vary over time, and therefore so do their distances from each other, hence varying the brightness of Saturn from one opposition to the next. Saturn also appears brighter when the rings are angled such that they are more visible. For example, during the opposition of 17 December 2002, Saturn appeared at its brightest due to the favorable [[:File:Saturnoppositions.jpg|orientation of its rings]] relative to the Earth,<ref name="opp2002">{{cite journal |title=Saturn in 2002–03 |last=Schmude |first=Richard W. Jr. |date=Winter 2003 |journal=Georgia Journal of Science |issn=0147-9369 |volume=61 |issue=4 |url=http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Georgia-Journal-Science/113429393.html |access-date=29 June 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924052153/http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Georgia-Journal-Science/113429393.html |url-status=live }}</ref> even though Saturn was closer to the Earth and Sun in late 2003.<ref name="opp2002" />

From time to time, Saturn is [[Occultation|occulted]] by the Moon (that is, the Moon covers up Saturn in the sky). As with all the planets in the Solar System, occultations of Saturn occur in "seasons". Saturnian occultations will take place monthly for about a 12-month period, followed by about a five-year period in which no such activity is registered. The Moon's orbit is inclined by several degrees relative to Saturn's, so occultations will only occur when Saturn is near one of the points in the sky where the two planes intersect (both the length of Saturn's year and the 18.6-Earth-year [[Lunar precession#Nodal precession|nodal precession]] period of the Moon's orbit influence the periodicity).<ref name="Jon">{{cite news |title=Bright Saturn will blink out across Australia – for an hour, anyway |url=http://theconversation.com/bright-saturn-will-blink-out-across-australia-for-an-hour-anyway-26217 |access-date=11 May 2014 |newspaper=The Conversation |date=9 May 2014 |display-authors=1 |author=Tanya Hill |author2=Jonti Horner |archive-date=10 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510214258/http://theconversation.com/bright-saturn-will-blink-out-across-australia-for-an-hour-anyway-26217 |url-status=live }}</ref>